Going to Norway was a perfect trip and if I have the chance to go there again, I would definitely go again - it is the cleanest, most perfect and one of the most beautiful places I have had the chance to see. And it is not because the people there are so different but because they are so like the way people should really be.

As soon as I reached Oslo, the Norweian capital city, I felt the extraordinary thrill of seeing a place like that. I could hardly see a person not smiling and I definitely, after careful exploration, did not see even a single used piece of paper dropped on the ground. This is something that treally impresses the tourists since many of the disadvantages of visiting a foreign country come from the discomfort of the loads of rubbish, dirty streets or a gray and dusty atmosphere. However, in Oslo I saw the cleanest streets I have seen and what impressed me even more - many of the people are using the hybrid cars or just bikes so even the air is somehow fresher.

I thought the three valleys ski resort was an area of outstanding beauty. However, the beauty of Norway is somewhere else. Oslo is beautiful for its historic monuments that remain since the vikings, the old and somehow looking untouched ships, the museum - truely spectacular things and places I saw. But once outside the city a person would see much more.

The nature of Norway is somehow unique - the fiords are so beautiful that even remembering them makes me shiver now, the vast forests give you the feeling of complete dominance of nature over men, the wildlife and the freshness recharge completely your biocycle. So to be honest, what impressed me the most is some mixture of perfect cleanness, a pure connection between nature and men.

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Los Angeles is second largest and one of the most developed cities in the US. With a population of over 3.8 million people, the city is the biggest in the state of California and the most developed economically in the western states. Culturally diverse, amazingly colorful and economically crucial, LA is the place in the US where a person would like to be -in one of the modern world cities.

The economy of LA has been gradually growing since the incorporation of the state in the US. Major branches of the economy are the finances, international trade, international and national banking, entertainment and tourism. With such a diverse range of services, there is another major economical feature that distinguishes the city -The Port of LA is one of the busiest harbors in the world with millions of tons of goods passing monthly.

With its situation and strategical importance, LA has become a magnet for investors in the financial sector and banking. The reason is the port that allows easy trade connections, the destination itself since the city is a tourist destination with valuable contribution, the close Mexican border which allows easier import of goods produced in Latin America and other factors. Now the world biggest banks such as the City Bank, The National American Bank, HSBC and others have their most modern and advanced technologically branches in LA and have created a hub of public and independent financial advisors, adding to the affluence of the city.

Another major point in the economy that contributes to the development of the city is the entertainment industry -productions such as Warner Bros, Universal Studios, Sonny Pictures, MGM and others are situated all in the city of angels. This additionally strengthens the economy of the city, keeping the fresh capital flow gradually rising.

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We started our meal with hushpuppies or savory cornbread balls. The main attraction was the fried chicken, served with ham gravy that completely complimented it. The food was tender and satisfying.

The other delicacies that we tried during the trip included the lip smacking Voodoo Shrimp, Crawfish Etouffe, BBQ baby back ribs, Andouille sausage, and jambalaya. The food was top notch. I personally found jambalaya amazingly delectable and I ended up scraping every bit of it from my platter. It was too enticing.

In our tour, we also made it a point to visit another renowned restaurant, “K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen”. It was a charming place with a pleasant ambience. The food and the décor, both were wonderful. We had ordered fried green tomatoes as appetizer. Our main course comprised beef with debris sauce, blackened tuna, jalapeno bread, sweet potato-pecan pie, and the pork tenderloin. The food was extremely delicious and flawlessly prepared. I would highly recommend the blackened twin beef tenders with debris sauce. It was mind blowing! We were completely stuffed after the meal. Although the food in here was a bit expensive, but it was worth the price since we got to savor some very exquisite and scrumptious dishes.

We had a tremendous time in New Orleans. It was one of the most memorable trips. The amazing culinary experience alone merits a visit to Louisiana. In fact, we would love to revisit the place sometime soon.

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One of the most difficult challenges was driving from Marseille to the beautiful Calanque of Sormiou - a wonderful sandy inlet surrounded by dramatic cliffs on the Mediterranean coast. The two hundred metre descent towards the car park adjacent to the beach was barely fit for our over-sized minivan and entailed sharp, hair-pin bends and incredibly steep road that facilitated the need for to be vigilant on the handbrake! At times we had to give way to other cars by pulling over when we were just inches away from plunging a hundred feet into a rocky gorge. Luckily, the trip only lasted for about 10 minutes and we soon found relief as we returned to the main roads and headed home.

Another terrifying experience was during the trip back to our villa from the wonderful village of Roussillon, situated in the Provence’s Luberon Valley (the resorts of which was featured in the film ‘A Good Year’). As we drove along a narrow straight road, a heavy goods vehicle came our way and refused to give way or stop for us. As there was clearly not enough space for both of our vehicles to pass through, we politely asked the driver to move back - using what limited French we had! The driver refused to do so and instead he moved forward. As he gained on us, inch by inch, we thought he was going to hit us. The road was surrounded by ditches and our minivan would have become stranded if we had reversed into one. Instead, we had to retreat several hundred metres into a small driveway in order to allow the truck driver to pass. After the angry man uttered what appeared to be French swearwords to a family with children, we continued on, angry and shaken.

We were confident that a heavy goods vehicle would be banned from travelling on such a narrow road under French law – it certainly would be in Britain. Luckily, our overall holiday in Provence turned out to be one of the very best we have had. The wonderful landscapes, markets, people, cuisines, monuments and climate are what make Provence such an enriching and charming region to visit. We are confident that we will be returning again at some point – although we hope to avoid repeating the same mistakes that had landed us in the somewhat frightening situations that have been discussed above!

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Just a two hour drive south of New York, Philadelphia was the setting for the signing of the declaration of Independence in 1776 after US forces defeated the British in the American Civil War. Four of the founding fathers are buried there in Christ Church Burial Ground - the most famous being Benjamin Franklin.

After the signing of the declaration, Philadelphia’s colossal bell was named the Liberty Bell and is the most famous symbol of the city. The 900Kg bell is on public display in the Liberty Bell Centre outside Independence Hall. Made in London in 1751 to commemorate religious and political freedom, it was later adopted by the movement for abolition of slavery.

According to legend, the bell tolled on several important occasions, such as the signing of the declaration and the deaths of John Quincy Adams and Thomas Jefferson in the early 19^th century. The original bell however, had developed a crack and had to be replaced by a sister bell in 1753. The gash down the front is the main focus of attention.

For all the intriguing and influential history in Philadelphia, one of the most thought-provoking and interesting elements of this forgotten ground is a Sycamore tree in Washington Square. But this is no ordinary tree. Planted in 1975, the Bicentennial Moon tree has grown from seed that was carried to the Moon by astronaut, Stuart A. Roosa in the 1971 space expedition of Apollo 14. From one new world to another in almost 200 years and one has to ask, is this the America the founding fathers envisaged?

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I am notorious for getting lost, and if you need an example just ask my girlfriend about when we tried to get to one of the berlin hostels. Going further than five miles from my house without a road map is often a recipe for disaster. Well in my early twenties I decided to be adventurous. I needed to move back to Virginia from Washington state. I decided I would drive cross country. This was before the times of GPS or Mapquest. This was back when you had to use maps and actually keep up with which exit you were passing. I decided to take the trip by myself. I had my little puppy Nila with me and we were off. I drove a silver Ford Taurus across the United States in five days.

Every morning we got up early to get an early start on the day. We went and got something to eat and I got a coffee. Then we were off to see what the day would bring on our journey. I did not anticipate how many times a puppy needs to tinkle so we ended up having to stop every hour or so. This ended up adding on an additional couple of hours to the trip. I am not the greatest at reading maps so every time we stopped I decided to regroup and figure out where we were and that we were heading in the right direction.

We had to stop for gas at one instance and I got lost trying to get back on the highway. By the time I had found someone to ask we were twenty miles off track and talking to a guy I could barely understand. I was so thankful to be home by the time I got there. If I ever decided to drive across the country again I will be so happy to have a GPS to guide my way.

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Being a quintessential globetrotter is never easy since you never know where you might be headed next! Though, of course, I don’t mind traveling to any place in the world, my recent experience with Germany has left me a little shaken.

My fifteen day trip to Germany via Turkey and then back to Turkey for a two-day stint started off on a good note. A Turkish airlines plane is not my idea of a great traveling experience but it sure isn’t one of the worst I’ve had so far. Anyway, I slept throughout the journey but when I landed in Turkey for my stopover, I was wide awake! The Turkish airport is grand! There isn’t any other word to describe it. Baklava, a sweet Turkish specialty, is to die for!

After a fun filled duty free shopping spree at the Turkey airport (at which point I got some amazing clothes for baby that my sister just had), I prepared myself for Germany. Thinking about what awaits me there, I fell asleep again (sleeping in flights helps you pass the rotten flight food so napping is highly advisable). My stay in Munich was nothing compared to what I had envisioned. I mean no offence to the place since it has lots to offer. It’s the people who disappointed me. German was never my strong point and so I was treated like an outcast. Most people know little or no English which made matters worse. Even the hotel staff acted like I was living off on their hospitality and not my own money! Visiting the Allianz Arena football stadium was a great consolation for how I was being made to feel by the not-so-helpful citizens of Munich and so I recommend you do the same!

Glad to get out of what in my opinion is the rude capital of the world, I made my way to Turkey. Istanbul is warm, bustling with energy and is just the opposite of Munich’s cold indifference. The Grand Bazaar, the Bosphorus Ferry and the Spice market were an exotic welcome to the city. In two days I enjoyed what Istanbul had to offer to my heart’s content and shopped till I was almost broke!

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During my time in Canada, I saw some great places and some great things and thoroughly enjoyed my time there. I went travelling on a couple of occasions (when my bank balance allowed me) and found that to be the best thing to do, as I love travelling more than anything else. One of the highlights of my travels was the time I spent in the fantastic city of Vancouver, on Canada’s west coast.

Sitting right at the bottom edge of the beautiful province of British Columbia, Vancouver is a modern city in nearly all respects. Despite its modernity, the architecture and the look of the city do not clash with the epic landscapes surrounding it. Vancouver seems to have everything that one would want in a city.

A short drive outside of the city is the countryside of British Columbia, and that in itself is something that everyone needs to see. With mountains, forests and lush greenery all round, one could forgive the often wet and cloudy weather of Vancouver because of what it has created.

Walking around the city is a pleasure also, you won’t see any buildings that look like storage units here, with the many stunning high rise glass buildings, this is a city to rival Tokyo in its futuristic style. The streets are clean and easy to navigate. However, there does seem to be somewhat of a homeless person issue, as nearly every street has its resident hobo. This is a shame, and surely the leadership of Vancouver could do something about it.

Within the city, there are several parks in which to relax and a beautiful coastline to walk along or just to sit by and admire. One gets a sense of luxury walking along that coastline with all the expensive yachts and high rise apartments that sit on it. There are some great places to eat as well, with plenty of restaurants to cater everyone’s tastes. A strong sports following is also apparent with the NHL Vancouver Canuck’s stadium sitting right next to the BC Lion’s stadium in the heart of the city.

As mentioned earlier, Vancouver is a beautiful city with something for everyone. I could easily see myself living there or at least returning often to visit.

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With the end of the Winter Olympics and the re-igniting of the NHL season, all the talk recently is about the upcoming trade deadline date on March the third and who will be moving where.

We have already seen a few trades but no doubt the biggest and best of them is yet to come. The Edmonton Oilers are clearly building for the future by trading Grebeshkov to the Nashville Predators for a second round draft pick. Now they must hope Nashville finish in a decent position to gain the most from that trade.

Grebeshkov has been a fairly solid defenseman all season, despite the terrible position the Oilers find themselves in. However, it seems to be all about shaking up the pack right now at Rexall Place and trying to offload some of the higher wage earners at the franchise.

With the likes of Grebeshkov on his way, players such as Steve Staios, Pisani and Horcoff must be looking over their shoulders because of their high salaries and their below average performances all season. It will be interesting to see who, if anyone, will want to take these veterans of the game.

Kovalchuk being traded to the New Jersey Devils from the Atlanta Thrashers was a huge trade for the former team. The Devils have been playing very well all season and find themselves near the top of the league, keeping the pace with the likes of Washington and San Jose. With the arrival of the create Kovalchuk, the Devil’s firepower going forward just got a massive boost and, if he starts firing like we know he can, it could just propel the Devils into the Stanley Cup series.

As the deadline date nears, it will be interesting to see who is moved around and which teams get the best of the trades. I can’t wait.

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Tuesday 17th February 2008- have just got back from Fraser Island. Its the largest sand Island in the world, and its stunning. There was a group of 11 of us. They were a fantastic bunch of people, and we were really lucky as everyone got on really well. We got a 4WD vehicle, got the 10 minute ferry across to the Island, then we were off driving down the beach listening to the travelling tunes, and first stop was Lake Mackensie. This lake is paradise, its like stepping onto the set of the film ’The Beach’, pure white sand (even though its a lake), and clear turquoise waters which were so warm. It just smelt gorgeous and fresh, and we all dived in and started swimming around and playing Frisbee. It was like being in the Caribbean. We then drove inland as it all depends on the tide when you can drive on the beach and we did a scenic route around, then back onto the beach to camp for the night. Well, I have never seen so many mutant flies in my life. Everything in this country is 10 times the size of home, and these flies live everywhere on the island but are in huge monster groups near the sea. Its hilarious watching the guys have a competition to see who can kill the most, but these buggers really sting when they bite, its like a wasp sting, and we are all now covered in them along with millions of mozzie bites. We all dance around trying to wave them away as well, and we all ended up getting really aggressive screaming at them at the top of our voices, like they really understood. There are wild dingoes on the island and you have to ignore them and you can get a $3000 fine if caught feeding or interacting. They attack kids, especially this time of year as the pups are playful and learning to be dominant, so kids have been mauled to death. We saw a few, and they really are beautiful creatures, but we were told we needed a toilet partner at all times if you go in the bush, as there was a story of a woman peeing by herself, a dingo came up, scared her, so she ran off with her knickers round her ankles, fell flat on her face and got a deep bite to the arse!! So us girls always made sure we went in pairs - but hey us girls are used to that. The guys had a problem going in pairs, so proved their masculinity by going alone. Fools!! We cooked our dinner and I haven’t been camping for 20 years. It brings back childhood nightmares as I HATED camping, and that’s what we did for a few years. I hate being sandy and dirty, and not having clean cooking facilities, but this time around I didn’t care, I was having far too much fun, and we had such an awesome group of people. After dinner we got out the cheap wine called goon and sat on the beach drinking it. When the sun goes down those mutant flies disappear, then you get eaten by mozzies instead, but its fine as you can’t see them or feel them at the time. A 4WD of Canadian guys pulled up and pitched near us, so they joined us drinking and chatting, one had the guitar out, so its was all cool. The stars were fully out and everyone was in awe of the sky, and the sound of the ocean right next to us. Eventually we went to bed, and it was soooooo uncomfortable it was unreal, we had no airbeds or pillows, so we lay on top of the sleeping bags as it was too hot, and with 3 of us in a small tent it was hot. We woke up so many times with a body so stiff and aching, and we could hear the dingoes padding around our tent and sniffing by our heads. We got up at 6.30am the Monday morning, battled and danced and screamed with the flies for an hour whilst packing the van, then we drove to a campsite where there were hardly any flies to have a great fry-up brekkie, then we headed to Lake Wabby, which was a 30 minute walk, a steep climb up sand, then wow, the view was stunning. There were vast sand dunes, then lush vegetation, then the lake. It was a greenish colour as it had tea tree oil stuff in it, and we got in and it was so soft and smooth on the skin. The guys were entertaining us by having races rolling down the sand dunes into the water, and it was so chilled and relaxing. After a while we went back to driving on the beach and saw the old shipwreck ruins, and also loads of Dingoes running around. We camped in a site as we couldn’t bare to spend another night battling with the flies, even though it was so cool to wake up to the noise of the sea. Us girls set up the tents whilst the boys organised the BBQ, and dinner was served. We all sat round drinking and chatting, and freaking out as there were MAHOOSIVE spiders in the trees, and there were huge things running on the ground that we all swear were tarantulas in the dark, and Ian was a bigger girl than all of us put together. Eventually we all retired to bed, then just gone midnight it started pouring it down with rain. There was slight leakage, but nothing too bad. We were all worried that we might drown but eventually it stopped, so we had a 5.30am start in the morning as we had to drive on the beach at the correct time for the tides, so we went to Indian Head which was a lookout point up some cliffs, and we saw a shark in the waters below. Swimming in the sea is a no go as there are tons of sharks and box jellyfish in the water, and to actually see a shark in the wild was awesome. They come in really close to shore, it was madness. We then went to Eli Creek where some of them took a swim. No matter what the weather is the temperature of the water is always 15’C, so there was no way I was getting in!!! We got back to the ferry at midday and went back to Rainbow Beach where we are staying. We checked the vehicle in at the garage who gave it a once over and it was fine. We only got stuck in the sand twice on the trip. It was an amazing few days, but its so great to be showered and away from sand, and to now be able to sleep in a bed. I’m certainly no camper, a couple of days maximum is enough for me!!!

Tony’s surprise party: I think I know what we should do. Who would be up for a abrupt trip and spending a bit of cash on some italy skiing.

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