Dreaming of Las Vegas Now That The Holidays Are Approaching
The holidays are nearly here, and when I think of where I want to spend Thanksgiving, I always think of Las Vegas. My favorite place in Vegas is the Venetian, but of course I love Caesar’s and the Bellagio too. Here are just a few pictures.
The Venetian, Las Vegas
Venetian, Las Vegas
The Venetian – Las Vegas Blvd
Caesars Palace, Las Vegas
The Bellagio, Las Vegas
The Bellagio, Las Vegas
Fashion Show Shopping Mall, Las Vegas
More pictures of Las Vegas can be found here.
Of course, I dream of visiting London too during the holidays, but that dream will have to perhaps become reality next year instead. Anyway, hope you are all dreaming of your holidays and making plans, the holidays will be here before you know it!
Have You Been To The Land Down Under?
Okay, so my title was inspired by the Men At Work song which coincidentally was out during the time of my fascination with Australia. I was always intrigued by Australia and knew I had to go there. So off, I went with a backpack and no more than £100 pounds. I ended up staying more than a year, and went back once again shortly after I returned to England. The second time I went there, I think I even had less money than the first time. It’s a long story as to what I did there and how I survived with such a meagre beginning, but with a big pot of dreams. Here are some pictures.
I ended up traveling around the country, and actually even hitch-hiked my way around. I would never do it again!
My first stop was Sydney, but I spent the majority of my time in Brisbane.
Sydney Opera House
Sydney Harbor
Sydney Opera House
Sydney Harbor
Sydney Opera House
You can’t visit Australia without going to the Outback, this is where you will see Ayers Rock.
Alice Springs, South Australia
Aboriginal Art
This one was taken in Melbourne
Melbourne
This is in the Northern Territory, I believe I went from Darwin to Alice Springs and Katherine Gorge was on the way. I remember a lazy river ride viewing crocodiles that looked lazy, but of course would snap out of that laziness in a heart-beat if tempted.
Katherine Gorge in the Northern Territory
This is Ayers Rock in Alice Springs
Ayers Rock
Melbourne Zoo
This is the best place to see koalas! I had a picture of me holding a koala and don’t know where it is now. So sad!
Koalas in Australia
However, I do have a picture of me with a kangaroo!
Back in those days, I did not take as many pictures as I do now, and I know I have more pictures of Sydney and Brisbane somewhere, but will look for them and post them sometime down the road. Here’s the Big Pineapple again though, this picture was taken on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland.
Big Pineapple, Sunshine Coast
I really enjoyed seeing the land Down Under and would like to visit it again sometime soon. It’s a great big country, and some of the other places I visited were Perth, and Adelaide. The only big city that I did not visit was Canberra, the capital city. I really should have gone there. Anyway, that’s enough of my reminiscences of my time in Australia.
Serene San Diego
Just a little serenity even in pictures might take away the tension that is forever present in this world. Here’s some serenity from San Diego.
Seaport Village, San Diego
Seaport Village, San Diego
Seaport Village, San Diego
Seaport Village, San Diego
Seaport Village, San Diego
Seaport Village, San Diego
Seaport Village, San Diego
Seaport Village, San Diego
Seaport Village, San Diego
Seaport Village, San Diego
Seaport Village, San Diego
Seaport Village, San Diego
Seaport Village, San Diego
Have a happy and serene week!
Where’s This Beach…Hope It’s Within Reach! It’s in Oceanside!
Where is this beauty of a beach?
Oceanside, CA
Is it Tenerife?
Oceanside, CA
Is it Majorca?
Oceanside, CA
Is it Sicily?
No, well, I think you know it by now, as I put it in the title and in the captions……it’s in Oceanside, California, which is just 45 minutes north or so of downtown San Diego. Oh, this beach is so stunning and one of my latest joys and discoveries. You can live by a place, but not even visit it or know of it’s beauty, until one day you stumble upon a part of it, and instantly think, wow, this is so beautiful, how could I never have visited this place before, or even known how beautiful? So, now, I go back to this beautiful beach as often as I can. Here are more pictures.
Beautiful park by Paradise on the Beach (that’s just my name for it) – it’s actually called Tyson’s Park – I believe.
Oceanside, CA
A bit of color by the beach
Oceanside, CA
Take a walk along the Pier
Oceanside, CA
Especially on a day that’s perfect, and the sky is clear
Oceanside Pier, CA
Okay, the sky may not be that clear, but the day was perfect.
Oceanside Pier, CA
Here’s a view from the Pier
A view from Oceanside Pier, Oceanside, CA
Another view from the Pier
A view from Oceanside Pier, Oceanside, CA
Back to the beautiful Pier
Oceanside Pier, CA
More of the beach
Oceanside Beach, CA
Guess what? There’s a restaurant on the Pier, and it was fun eating there, it almost felt like being on a cruise!
Ruby’s Restaurant, Oceanside Pier, CA
Ruby’s Restaurant, Oceanside Pier, CA
Okay, so I had to take a picture inside Ruby’s where we enjoyed lunch, but this one didn’t come out great, I wanted to show the view through the window
Ruby’s Restaurant, Oceanside Pier, CA
Back to the outside world and lovely Oceanside Pier again! Here’s someone else enjoying the view from the Pier.
Oceanside Pier, CA
Here’s someone taking a break from fishing on the Pier
Oceanside Pier, CA
Here’s more people enjoying the view from the Pier
Oceanside Pier, CA
What a beauty of a beach!
Oceanside Beach, CA
What nice waves you have!
Oceanside Beach, CA
What nice trees you have!
Oceanside Beach, CA
Chandi loved visiting Oceanside
Oceanside Pier, CA
I know these people loved the beach
Oceanside Pier, CA
Oceanside Pier, CA
I think anyone visiting would love this place
Oceanside Pier, CA
Life’s more fun with a visit to the beach. I hope the beach is within reach for you
Oceanside Beach, CA
No matter which angle you view it from, Oceanside Beach should be within your reach
Oceanside Beach, CA
Shade or no shade, tents or not
Oceanside Beach, CA
This beach sparkles
Oceanside Beach, CA
Where is Oceanside again?
Oceanside Beach, CA
It’s part of sunny San Diego, just 5 or 10 minutes away from Carlsbad, and 40 or 45 minutes north of downtown San Diego.
Oceanside Beach, CA
Oceanside Beach, CA
Oh, it’s so Oceanside!
Oceanside Beach, CA
By the way, Happy Labor Day!
When In Rome
When in Rome, you won’t forget to do the usual touristy things like visit the Trevi Fountain
Trevi Fountain, Rome
First you’ll want to photograph just about any part of it with other people in it
Trevi Fountain, Rome
Then you’ll probably want to pick on an Italian-looking person to be in the picture
Trevi Fountain, Rome
Then you’ll want to photograph the top of the structure
Trevi Fountain, Rome
The middle of the structure
Trevi Fountain, Rome
And other people taking better pictures of it
Trevi Fountain, Rome
Don’t forget to take pictures that include the bottom of the structure showing the water.
Trevi Fountain, Rome
Now, you’ll want to go elsewhere, and take more pictures
Rome, Italy
And somewhere else again
Rome, Italy
Take a picture from another angle
Rome, Italy
And then walk around the corner
Rome, Italy
Don’t forget to just take pictures of people, any people – don’t even ask them.
Rome, Italy
Don’t forget the street scenes
Rome, Italy
Don’t forget to get the Italian flag in your pictures
Rome, Italy
Did I mention that you are supposed to get the numerous statues too that are all over the place?
Bridge of Angels, Rome, Italy
Can’t resist throwing in one more picture of the Trevi Fountain.
Trevi Fountain, Rome
Did I also tell you that you should just about take pictures of everything?
Also, one more thing……..when in Rome, forget about home!
Staycation in San Diego
I love traveling, but unfortunately can’t get away this year – it’s a far cry from last year when I went to Lake Tahoe, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Baltimore, MD and then on a cruise on the Enchantment of The Seas to Bermuda.
However, San Diego is a place where you can enjoy living, and vacation here every day of the year with the right mindset. This is not just home, but a vacation paradise. This year, instead of renting out my timeshare at the Grand Pacific Palisades, I took a working holiday – we stayed at the Palisades for seven days even though I had to work – but I was on holiday in the evenings! My kids were on holiday all day long – after all it’s their vacation from school. By staying at this resort (only twenty minutes away from my home) it mostly gave my kids the chance to get away from our house, and have a change of scenery and experience the swimming pool every day, and feel like we were on holiday.
Sometimes, you just have to stay at home or near home.
The view from the balcony in the evening:
View from the Grand Pacific Palisades, Carlsbad
I came home from work and took my little girl to the swimming pool
Kids Splash Area at the Kids Pool, Grand Pacific Palisades, Carlsbad
It’s a pretty place for a walk in the evenings
Carlsbad in the evening
Then there’s neighboring Oceanside to explore (only ten minutes north of Carlsbad):
Oceanside Beach
Life’s just a beach!
Oceanside Beach
Then on the weekend with Legoland just across the street, who could resist, and guess who loves Legoland?
Legoland in Carlsbad, CA
Keep dreaming of holidays during your holiday when the Taj Mahal presents itself to you at Legoland!
The Taj Mahal at Legoland, CA
Fancy going to India to see this beauty? The one and only time that I went to India – I was mesmerized by the real Taj Mahal, it’s no wonder it’s one of the seven wonders of the world! it really is breathtaking, and it’s also a beautiful sight to behold at Legoland.
The Taj Mahal at Legoland, CA
I just have to show the Taj Mahal at Legoland again to you – can you believe the creativity?
The Taj Mahal at Legoland, CA
Now, we were transported to Australia! We were on a boat ride and I didn’t get a very good picture of the Sydney Opera House, but here are two of them:
The Sydney Opera House at Legoland, CA
The Sydney Opera House at Legoland, CA
Next, we were transported to Paris, France!
The Eiffel Tower, Paris, France at Legoland, CA
Next, we were presented with images of Egypt……don’t say Legoland is not worldly!
Legoland, CA
What’s not to like about staying in your own home turf once in a while and vacationing at home? San Diego is a great place to staycation. However, if you don’t live here, it’s a really nice place to vacation.
Italy is Entrenched in Culture – You’ve Got to Love It!
There is a place that I could go to again and again, and never get bored of visiting, and that is Italy. I have been there numerous times. On this occasion, back in 2006, it was right after the MSC Musica cruise. The cruise started in Venice and finished in Venice, but a trip to Italy is not complete without visiting some of it’s other beautiful cities. We chose Pisa, and were not disappointed. We also went to Florence, and San Gimignano, but I can’t remember if some of these pictures were taken there or not. I have decided to label most of the other pictures Tuscany, Italy just to be on the safe side.
First, the most famous place in Pisa – the Leaning Tower of Pisa
Leaning Tower of Pisa
and here, it looks like it’s not leaning so much, but it’s just a different angle
Then here are an assortment of pictures taken in Tuscany which is the region where Pisa is.
Tuscany, Italy
Pisa, Italy
Tuscany, Italy
Tuscany, Italy
Tuscany, Italy
Tuscany, Italy
Tuscany, Italy
Tuscany, Italy
Tuscany, Italy
Tuscany, Italy
Pisa, Italy
Pisa, Italy
Pisa, Italy
Pisa, Italy
Pisa, Italy
Pisa, Italy
Pisa, Italy
Pisa, Italy
Pisa, Italy
Tuscany, Italy
Tuscany, Italy
Tuscany, Italy
Tuscany, Italy
What can I say about Italy other than I love the architecture, the fashion, the language, the food, the place and the people. Italy, it has it all, and you can get a big taste of what Italy is about just in Pisa.
Care For The Fair? Try the San Diego County Fair.
The San Diego County Fair is here in town – it started on June 8th and goes on until July 4th. Normally, I try to avoid this as it’s expensive and can be very tiring. However, I must have forgot how much fun it was, and mustn’t leave it for another three or four years until I go again. Yesterday was a beautiful day for a fair, it was a fairly hot day, but not unpleasant, and the sky was a perfect blue.
The Fairgrounds are in the same venue as the Del Mar Racetrack – here’s a link to some pictures of that – (scroll halfway down the page though to see pictures of the Racetrack). To get to the Fairgrounds, just go on the Highway 5 North and exit Via De La Valle, make a left and another left on Jimmy Durante Blvd. Be prepared to pay $10 for parking or you can park at local schools and take a bus for free. Admission prices are: children under 5 are free; kids under the age of 12 are $8 and adults are $14.
When you first go through admission, you will see a place where you can play all kinds of games. If you want to stay out of the sun, and it was hot yesterday (June 22nd) – this is a great place to stay out of the heat. You can play many kinds of games, cards, dominoes, or just play on one of the arcade style machines.
The San Diego County Fair
San Diego County Fair
Then the aroma of the fair food is so tantalizing, and the choices are plentiful! What to get? Ice cream, funnel cakes, pizza, Greek food, fish and chips, Indian bread (I believe it was the American Indian, not the other Indian), caramel apples, just about anything covered with bacon – including chocolate, or hot dogs are just some of the temptations. The fries covered with nacho cheese and bacon bits were really good! However, it is costly – $10 or so for a chicken basket that consisted of four pieces of chicken with fries, $6.75 for the bacon covered fries, $15.75 for three slices of pizza with two drinks, and should I even go on? But, it’s tempting and you have to be really strong to resist those wonderful tantalizing smells, they can even make those who are full – just greedy. It’s the Fair, and you have to give in just once in a while!
The San Diego County Fair
Then the kids will pester you for rides – or perhaps you might want to give in and try a ride yourself. I believe the first ten days of the fair – you can get a wristband for $30 per person for all day unlimited rides, but right now those wristbands are only available to use on Wednesday and Thursday’s. Since the majority of people go on Saturday or Sunday, they will be limited to paying about 75 cents per ride including on July 4th. You can pay $50 for 72 tickets or $20 for 28 tickets – that’s what I mean when I say it’s expensive – be prepared to bring a lot of money with you.
The San Diego County Fair
Now, when you’ve got your tickets or wristband, you have to decide which rides to go on – at least the lines aren’t that long – like they are at Disneyland or Legoland – you can get on your ride fairly quickly – at least my kids did yesterday.
Here’s two pictures showing the Grand Wheel (the first one with the pink inflated toy in front of it was taken with my camcorder, and the second one was taken with my Iphone):
The Grand Wheel, San Diego County Fair
The San Diego County Fair
or you could choose to go upside down on a ride called Windsurf
The San Diego County Fair
Or how about the Magnum, or one of the other rides shown here?
Then, of course this place would not be complete without rides for little kids of Chandi’s age – so across the fairgrounds on the other side are rides more suitable for the little ones.
Isn’t the San Diego sky glorious?
San Diego County Fair
There are some animals out here for the kids to see and enjoy, such as horses, pigs, goats and chickens. Chandi and Luca had a lot of fun seeing the horses – here’s just one of the horses people can learn about – there were donkeys, ponies and many other kinds of breeds of horses too. Also, there’s a safe way to pretend that you are riding on a horse too!
San Diego Fair has great family shows which are live such as Family Feud – another great way to escape some of the heat and crowds, as well as to give your aching feet a break.
Do you know that celebrities come play at the Fairgrounds – celebrities such as Victoria Justice who does more than just singing or acting – she represents Girl Up, which is a campaign of the United Nations Foundation. Girl Up empowers girls to fight for the right to education and the end to other atrocities that girls face. Big Time Rush were also set to play at the same concert as Victoria Justice – tickets were only $12, my oldest daughter wanted to see the show, but we were quite tired and could not stay any longer – we left at 7:30 pm, and had been at the fair all day from 11am or so.
If you want to find out more information about the fair, visit this link: http://www.sdfair.com/
Don’t forget other than rides and food, there are also cuddly toys that are there for the winning!
I’ve got just one final thing to say – it’s not fair if you don’t take them to the fair at least once when they’re little. A smile from a child says it all.
San Diego County Fair
A Taste Of Europe with Katakalon, Greece and Dubrovnik, Croatia
I have been ever so busy lately, but that is now the story of my life. I had to take a few minutes and escape into my dreams back to a trip in 2006 while on the MSC Musica. We stopped at Katakalon in Greece – this place is ever so colorful – it reminds me of Cefalu in Sicily – oh, how I’d like to get my hands on some of the pictures I took there and then scan them onto my computer. Until, then….Katakalon is a nice diversification.
Well, here is Katakalon – just a few pictures – we only had a few hours here.
Katakalon, Greece
That’s me in 2006 in Katakalon
Katakalon, Greece
Katakalon, Greece
Katakalon, Greece
Now, would you like to take a trip to Dubrovnik in Croatia? This place is stunning and deserves more than a few hours of your time.
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Well, that’s it for today. Just thought I’d escape to Europe for a while and share some of my pictures with you. Hope you are all doing well.
Oh, I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside – In Oceanside, CA
What’s better than visiting a beautiful seaside or should I say beach on a beautiful day in San Diego? Oceanside, which is about 40 minutes north of downtown San Diego has spectacular beaches. Here’s a few pictures.
The beach at Oceanside (San Diego)
Life’s getting really hectic, so I’m bringing you this really short post with just a few pictures. Until next time!
luchanik 