My Love Of Travel – It Started In Lovely London
Life is constantly evolving, and you never know from day to day what the next day will have in store for you. I made a post not too long ago, and just modified it now – Social Media and My Whirlwind Life, I also modified the page about me – About Luchanik Travel & Cruises. Why? Well, just two days ago, I finally made a decision – I no longer want to be a travel agent!
I’d now like to deviate, and focus on the place where it all started – England, and specifically lovely London! My love of travel started right here, I have to say that one of the best places in the world is London. I can go back to London time and time again, and never be bored of seeing the same places….each time is like the first time. I absolutely love it, and miss London a lot.
I really like going to this area of London – the Tower Bridge in the St. Katharine’s Dock area.
I also love seeing Buckingham Palace time and time again – let’s say I have a fascination with Royalty.
I believe this picture was taken close to Buckingham Palace.
Here I am standing right in front of the spectacular monument near Buckingham Palace
London has some beautiful museums, check out the Victoria and Albert Museum in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
You can’t go to London without checking the place Princess Diana called home – Kensington Palace
Don’t miss seeing London’s fantastic parks, complete with ponds, lakes, and ducks.
I just loved going in the Houses of Parliament and listening to how they argue.
This picture was taken close to the Houses of Parliament
I love Harrods of Knightsbridge, London – you just have to go in this amazing, but very expensive store.
This is close by to Harrods – stunning architecture in London, quite fabulous!
Now, one of the best photographs that I treasure is that of Princess Diana, and Dodi who were tragically killed in an accident when Diana was at her happiest. I cried so much when Diana died, she was a childhood hero of mine, and I had even wanted to attend her wedding to Prince Charles – of course, I was not invited – so sad! I was so happy to see a shrine dedicated to them in Harrods which at that time was owned by Dodi’s father – I’m not sure if he is still the current owner or not.
Harrods candy shop time and cappuccino time! Of course, I also like to get a pot of tea when I go into Harrods, with a scone with clotted cream and jam, doesn’t that sound nice? Oh, I crave for my English things!
Finally, a London street scene.
I love London, it surely is one of the best places to visit, and I highly recommend it.
2012 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 6,900 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 12 years to get that many views.
Sunsets in Coronado, San Diego
Sunsets can be spectacular in San Diego, and Coronado which is only a two mile drive or so from downtown San Diego is no exception. Some of the best sunsets can be found right here.
Me and the kids went to one of our favorite places in the San Diego area – across the Bay – and onto the island of Coronado. Coronado is only a 5 minute drive or so from downtown San Diego – you head down Highway 5 and take the 75 South to Coronado, then when you see Orange Avenue, make a left and you can head to the Hotel Del.
I think this picture below would have come out nice if the car hadn’t got in the way, but I think the passengers wanted to see the sunset too. I can’t blame them.
I think the sunset looks pretty like this too
Most of these pictures were taken right before we got to Hotel Del (just a few minutes walk away), and some further down the page were taken at the beach in front of the hotel.
I think these two trees below might be the same ones that were in my personal favorite sunset picture that I took in Coronado (seen below the one directly underneath)
My favorite sunset picture taken just over a year ago on Christmas Day (2011)
The Hotel Del is swell! It’s a great place to visit, or even stay at (I stayed there once for three nights in 2008). Top your visit off with some gelato from Mootime Creamery, their wonderful ice-cream store.
Well, I will leave you with a few more sunset pictures, this one was taken right in front of the Hotel Del
This is on the way to the Hotel Del, just a few minutes walk away right now.
This picture was taken right in front of the Hotel Del
The clouds were even a little black today, we’ve had quite a bit of rain the past few weeks.
There’s nothing like bringing in the New Year in with sunsets, and that’s just what we did this year – that’s when these pictures were taken (except for the Christmas Day, 2011 picture). Remember, to get to Coronado from San Diego is not very hard at all. It’s just a two mile drive or so from downtown, across the Coronado Bridge.
To get this view of the San Diego skyline (seen below), all you do is go across the Coronado Bridge and make a right at Orange Avenue, you would then make another right, and park on your left hand side where the shops are and where the Il Fornaio restaurant is. Some of the hotels seen in the San Diego skyline are the Hyatt Grand Manchester, the Marriott Marquis & Marina and the Hilton BayFront (I’ve also stayed at all these hotels). Please feel free to get in touch with me for making hotel reservations, or recommendations. As you can see, these hotels are fairly close to Coronado, and should definitely be on your list of hotels to consider staying at when you come to San Diego. You will have the best of both worlds – be close to Coronado and still be close to all the other fabulous attractions near these hotels, such as Seaport Village, the Gaslamp District, Balboa Park, San Diego Zoo, Sea World, and shopping at one of the most gorgeous shopping malls in the entire world – at Horton Plaza. Please see my previous post: Scenic San Diego.
By the way, I wish you all a Happy New Year, and I’m so sorry for not writing as frequently, time is in short supply….but I will try harder. May the New Year bring you plenty of spectacular sunsets, and much happiness.
The Big Pineapple
It’s time for you to see the Big Pineapple!
The Big Pineapple is a tourist attraction in The Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia, and it is quite amazing. From what I remember, there are several gift shops there, as well as rides, and many other things to do. I believe there are samples of fresh pineapples too – after all, who wouldn’t want pineapple to eat after seeing this?
Las Vegas Can Be Contagious
Las Vegas is a beautiful place to visit for the holidays. The lights will dazzle you, and the city will grab you in its grasp – but you should be warned – it can be contagious.
Vegas has so much atmosphere.
Vegas can dazzle you.
Vegas can leave you amazed.
Vegas even has the Grinch!
You should go see H&M in Caesars Palace, it’s truly spectacular!
There were so many pictures to take outside the Venetian, this is certainly my favorite place in Vegas. It is almost as good as going to the real Venice, but not quite.
Vegas has incredible lights!
Of course, the inside of the Venetian is equally as spectacular as the outside.
This place has delicious gelato – it is so good, you will definitely go back for seconds if not thirds!
Las Vegas knows how to sparkle for the holidays – and Las Vegas knows how to make you yearn to go back, even if just for the pictures.
The Magic of December Nights in San Diego
I knew December Nights at Balboa Park was going to be magical. There’s not a better way to kick-start the holidays than going to Balboa Park, and experiencing December Nights. What is/are December Nights? I wrote about it in my previous post, just click here to see More Info on December Nights (that post contains some external links with more information too).
Now that December Nights (which occurred on December 7 & 8, 2012) are over, there’s still plenty of reasons to visit the Park. The magical tree is still there, and so are the lights and the great atmosphere, and at least you won’t have the crowds to deal with. Here’s some pictures:
First the magical tree:
It gets even more magical – it opens up!
It changes color!
It changed color again!
This one is more fuzzier, because my camera’s battery died and I had to use my I-phone.
This one’s fuzzy too, but I’m including it because I want you to see the spectacle of color that was so beautiful during the December Nights concert.
Here’s the same color for background, but the tree has closed up
Now for a lighter shade of blue
And the last two of the tree at least!
Now for some pictures of the Park in the dark. Me and my family went to December Nights on both December 7 and December 8. Why miss out on the magic?
I believe this church now houses the Museum of Man
Today, I suddenly stumbled on a second picture that I took of the Church at Balboa Park, I thought I only had one like the one above.
Are you ready for more Christmas trees? Here’s another one at the Park, closer to the church shown above
Oh, my gosh! The Grinch was here, but Chandi didn’t want to have her picture taken with him, so I had to take it of someone else instead!
Even dogs like December Nights, this picture was taken with no flash, but it wasn’t very good, however, it will give you an idea of what the lights were like and how it really looked in the dark
The dog also has glasses, more clearly seen in the picture below.
It’s just so nice strolling through the Park, even in the dark!
Balboa Park was nicely lit up for the holidays
There were so many people there, you wouldn’t believe it. I think I read somewhere that there were at least 300,000 people.
Here’s the Botanical Gardens Building at night time bathed in a beautiful blue light
You can’t tell from these pictures just how many people there were in Balboa Park during these two very busy nights.
Of course, there were a lot of delicious choices for food, but I didn’t get to take too many pictures of the different vendors. Here’s one at least.
This fountain is near one of the many museums at the park, and is closest to the path to the San Diego Zoo.
The words “Happy Holidays” lit up one of the museums
Here’s a clearer picture of some people at December Nights
For some reason, I like this picture
I couldn’t stop taking pictures of Balboa Park at night, it is beautiful both at night and day
I didn’t quite get the picture above centralized, see how it looks below, still not right. It would have been perfect if I could have got both “Season’s Greetings” and the lighting on the wall on the right in just one picture balanced out better. Oh, well. I’ll have to make do with two pictures.
Now for where the reindeers are with presents laden on the sleigh
A different angle of the reindeers
Now, there’s the presents at the back (I guess on the sleigh).
Some more lights
Now, some more pictures of the amazing tree from a different angle.
And lastly, some pictures of the performers who entertained us at the site of the magical tree.
Just incase you don’t get the full flavor of what it’s like at Balboa Park during December Nights, I made this video especially for you.
I still haven’t had the chance to take more daytime pictures of Balboa Park, so in the meantime, you can look at these pictures taken by someone who linked to my post previously, so now I will link to his – so you can see his amazing pictures of Balboa Park: http://onecoolthingeveryweekend.com/2012/11/21/picture-tour-of-the-san-diego-balboa-park/
Oh, by the way, I went to the International Houses on the 8th of December and saw various cultural dances there, including Indian dances, but only managed to get a few pictures. Perhaps, I will put those in another post. Anyway, I hope you can see that Balboa Park is so magical when it’s the holidays. If you celebrate Christmas, Merry Christmas to you, and if you don’t – Happy Holidays!
It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas
Oh, how I love this time of year, the wonderful memories of Christmas that has already passed, and the exhilarating anticipation of Christmas yet to come.
Two fabulous places to experience a taste of the holidays are Balboa Park, and the adjacent San Diego Zoo. Did you know that you can actually walk from Balboa Park to the Zoo? It will only take about five to ten minutes to walk from one to the other.
I would like to remind you that December Nights is just around the corner – it’s actually this week on Friday and Saturday (December 7 and 8) …..two wonderful days of holiday cheer, where San Diego celebrates the holidays like no place else.
Here’s three links with more information about this wonderful event – December Nights At Balboa Park, Official Tourism Blog of San Diego and NBC 7 San Diego News.
Here’s some pictures from past December Nights, previously known as Christmas On The Prado
Cultural events and activities galore can be found at December Nights
These dances took place outside the House of Ukraine at the International Cottages in 2011.
I think one of the best places to visit in Balboa Park is this very area…..the International Cottages. Here, you will see the House of Scotland, England, Germany, France, Russia, Italy, Ireland, Ukraine, and many others. What can you expect to see or learn from these International Cottages? You will get a big taste of what it’s like to be from that region. You can try samples of the food from any of those respective countries, you may even be in for a treat to a dance from that region – it really is a fantastic thing to experience – you might just see Scottish, German, Russian, Indian and other dances (during December Nights, 2012, I know you can definitely see Indian dances on Saturday evening (I apologize if you read it before and it said Friday, I just got confirmation today 12/6/12 that it’s Saturday evening). Read more about the International Cottages right here: http://www.balboapark.org/in-the-park/house-pacific-relations-international-cottages
This picture of my three kids was taken last year at San Diego Zoo. The Zoo is beautiful at Christmas time.
Can you believe the same tree shown above behind my kids actually magically changes and becomes the tree below when it is darker
The San Diego Zoo is a favorite of my kids – especially Chandi – she absolutely loves it here.
I really love her expression when she saw the orangutans.
Now from my house to yours – I would like to spread some holiday cheer. This is a picture of my kids from two years ago. They wish you a Merry Christmas.
I don’t have a good picture yet of all three of my kids from this holiday season, but will certainly strive to capture one at some point or other, but I do have a picture of my little Chandi which was taken just a few days ago.
My daughter Niki is very creative and made these holiday cookies
Go attend some festivities, get into the spirit, and don’t forget to enjoy some holiday cookies!
By the way……you are probably thinking that San Diego can’t look very “Christmassy”. I hope you can see that we still celebrate this joyous season here in a big way. It’s all about getting into the spirit, holiday decorations, festivities, etc., and any place can be seasonally festive. This is a nice place to celebrate it, because we don’t have to deal with the snow. I know many of you might like snow, but I grew up in England, and had more than my fair share of it. I really enjoy looking at it from inside, and seeing the snow fall – it certainly is a beautiful sight, but I can do without trudging through it, and shoveling my car out of it. However, my kids crave it – so what do we do here in San Diego for snow? We go to the Zoo and visit the “Snowerator” – at least I think that’s the word for it!
We also have places like Julian (one hour away) that are fairly close by, which we can go to if we really need the real thing.
Whatever you do…..I hope you get to celebrate the holidays, and to experience some of the season’s joy. Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays!
Scenic San Diego
I really could run out of words to describe San Diego – it surely is scenic, beautiful, fantastic, marvelous, paradise, heavenly and ………. well, I could go on!
Here’s a scenic San Diego – at Seaport Village
Here’s a beautiful San Diego at Seaport Village
Here’s a fantastic San Diego with a downtown city view.
Here’s a marvelous San Diego with the twin towers of the Marriott Marquis & Marina on the right.
Well, I won’t call the next two pictures paradise and heavenly as those descriptions actually fit the first two more, but those are taken up!
Now, you have a downtown tourist attraction (Seaport Village), you have a place to stay (Marriott Marquis), and now you have to go shopping!
Horton Plaza is one of the best shopping malls in the world, and undoubtedly the most colorful and most absolutely gorgeous place to shop, dine and see a movie!
All the pictures above were taken a number of years ago, and may not be as vivid as they could be. Here are some newer pictures of Horton Plaza, however, I think they are all about the same quality.
I actually saw an Indian movie here at Horton Plaza (sorry, I know this might not fit in with scenic San Diego, but I had to tie it in with Horton Plaza).
I took some more pictures of Seaport Village too recently, but I still like the older pictures that I took above.
And lastly, my favorite type of picture – the marina complete with boats, I don’t know why I like the marina so much, but I think it’s because I feel calm, peaceful and content when I see the more relaxing waters of the marina.
Also, it is worthy to note that Seaport Village is within walking distance of such big hotels as the Marriott Marquis & Marina and the Hyatt Grand Manchester (both hotels overlook Seaport Village). Horton Plaza is a nice five or ten minute walk from Seaport Village – it will probably be a good idea to walk there, however, if you are stuck for parking – Horton Plaza validates for three hours with a purchase. You could visit the movies, and get your parking ticket validated too.
Want to know more about Seaport Village? http://www.seaportvillage.com/visitors
Want to know more about the Marriott Marquis & Marina? http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sandt-san-diego-marriott-marquis-and-marina/
Want to know more about Horton Plaza? http://www.westfield.com/hortonplaza/tourism/
You may also want to see my other posts: Some Places To Escape The Heat, Incredible San Diego – La Jolla, Sunsets In San Diego, and Beautiful San Diego
I hope you will visit beautiful, scenic San Diego one of these days, it is absolutely paradise!






















































































































































































