Roman Reference

If you are looking for a vacation apartment rental in Rome you have got to check out this site.   These are all privately owned apartments.  The site is easy to use, you simply type in your travel dates and number of travelers.  You can also refine your search by amenities, budget, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, if they allow pets, allows smoking and the area of the city the apartment is located in.

Another nice feature of the site is that you can not only look at the apartment’s location on a tradition map but also see it in a “street view” map.  You can take a look around and see what the area around the apartment actually looks like.  Not only that but the map allows you to move around the neighborhood and up and down the streets so you can see what is up the street or around the corner.

While checking out one apartment, the apartment looked good but after looking at the street view map I saw the apartment wasn’t located on the best street.  While viewing another apartment, the street view looked good so I started exploring what was around the apartment and found by moving up the street about one block you could get to the coliseum from a side street within few short walking minutes from the apartment.

Another nice advantage to the street view map is that you can see what shops and restaurants are nearby your apartment so you know exactly what to expect when you arrive.

Each apartment listing also has lots of pictures so you can really get a good overview of what the apartment looks like.

Definitely a site worth checking out.

www.romanreference.com/

Passengers on Royal Caribbean cruises will now be automatically charged $12 a day, per guest SeaPass account for gratuities.   Guests staying in suites will pay a little more, $14.25 a day.

Royal Caribbean says the automatic gratuity will simplify “service recognition” for guests.  It will cover tips for the dining room staff, stateroom attendants and other housekeeping service personnel.

Guests can modify these amounts by visiting Guest Services during the cruise.

Royal Caribbean - Enter by April 7th, 2013
Location: Caribbean – 7 Nights on Oasis of the Seas

1-Night Inaugural Cruise To Meet Kristin Chenoweth Onboard Our Newest Ship, Quantum of the Seas
PLUS
7-Night Caribbean Cruise Onboard Allure of the Seas or Oasis of the Seas

http://www.rclifetimevacation.com/#.gdXihv2uiihP

Win a Trip for 2 to Saint Lucia - Enter by April 30th, 2013
Location: Saint Lucia – 6 Days & 5 Nights

Roundtrip coach class air transportation from an airport of sponsor’s choice nearest Grand Prize Winner’s residence to Saint Lucia

Round trip ground transportation between airport and resort in St Lucia via the resort shuttle bus provided at the airport

http://stlucianow.com/sweepstakes

Masterpiece Theater Tour of Britain - Enter by April 30th, 2013
Location: Highclere Castle, Kensigton Palace and More – 5 Day

Win a 5 day tour to Britain  including a VIP tour to Highclere Castle, the setting  for Downton Abbey.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/sweepstakes/

Coffee Lovers Trip to Costa Rica! - Enter by April 7th, 2013
Location: Costa Rica – 5 nights

https://lolcoffeesweep.icgrouplp.com/

Win a Trip to Paris and Stay at the Royal Monceau - Enter by April 15th, 2013
Location: Paris France – $10, 000 in prize money

https://tlworldsbest.roiresearch.com/home.aspx?expired=1

Travel Channel

Win a custom trip of a lifetime. Enter by March 24, 2013

http://www.travelchannel.com/trip-of-a-lifetime/

Holland America

Win a Trip — 10-Day Alaska CruiseTour for 2 Enter by April 30, 2013

Prize: 10-Day Holland America Line Alaska Cruise Tour for 2 includes 1 Stateroom and Most Ship Board Meals

http://www.halcruisetour.com/default.aspx

Ever think it would have been cool to have sailed on the Titanic, well except for that whole sinking thing.  After all it was a grand, first class ship and it was a time when things were done with class and style.  The ship was beautiful and had true elegance which is something a lot of ships today are missing. 

Well, now you will have your chance to sail on the Titanic, or rather the Titanic II.  Which will be an almost exact replica of the original Titanic.  Australian billionaire Clive Palmer, chairman of the Titanic II Blue Star Line is building the Titanic II which is scheduled to make its first voyage in 2016 and yes it will be making the same voyage the original ship made.  The ship which will cost $500 million to complete, will have the same features and amenities as the first Titanic with the major differences being a special area on the bow of the ship so passengers can recreate the iconic scene “I’m flying” from the movie with Jack and Rose.  As well as an extra deck to provide better visibility for the bridge, a few extra feet to adhere to international stability codes and yes, enough life boats for all the passengers.

Some people may not want to temp fate by sailing on the Titanic II while others will embrace its nostalgia, however if you do want to sail on this ship you will have to drop some serious change, it’s rumored that the best first class cabins will go for $1 million.

Starting on April 25, 2013, the TSA will allow passengers to bring small knives with blades measuring no more than 2.36 inches long and are less than ½ inch wide, on board planes as carry-on’s.  Along with other formally restricted items such as novelty-sized and toy bats, billiard cues, ski poles, hockey sticks, lacrosse sticks and two golf clubs. 

Their reason for relaxing their restrictions on these items is rather than spend their time looking for these items they can now focus their attention efforts looking for higher threat items such as explosives and more serious weapons.

However the problem with this thinking is that it was small blade weapons that were used during the 911 attacks.  Even a small blade can be intimidating and can do serious damage.  TSA agents aren’t going to stop looking for knives.  They still will have to spend the same amount of time to look for them plus take even more time to measure the blades to make sure they are within the allowed limits.

Maybe a better solution would be for airlines to stop charging passengers for checked luggage so they will stop trying to carry all their luggage on as carry-on and this way they can check their restricted items.  There’s not enough room in the overhead bins as it is now, how are we suppose to squeeze in a hockey stick and gold clubs?

The following countries are under travel warnings issued by the State Department.  If you are planning to travel to any of these countries be sure to check with the State Department to get more information about the travel warning before you go.

You can also register your travel plans with the State Department.   Just in case of an emergency they will be aware that you are in that country and know where you will be staying and what your travel schedule is.

Syria
Iraq
Algeria
Philippines
Afghanistan
El Salvador
Mali
Niger
Kenya
Libya
Haiti
Central African Republic
Somalia
Nigeria
Israel, the West Bank and Gaza
Iran
Mauritania
Eritrea
Congo, Democratic Republic of the
Chad
Honduras
Mexico
Yemen
Saudi Arabia
Cote d’Ivoire
Burundi
Tunisia
Colombia
Pakistan
Lebanon
Sudan
Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of
Republic of South Sudan
Guinea

A couple of years ago my family and I took a trip to South Africa.  We were traveling with a small tour group and while staying at a small camp one night we were given the option of taking two different excursions, one of which was an evening game drive on a private reserve.  This is the one my family opted for.  As it turned out our guide was not very familiar with this game reserve.  About a mile down the road into the reserve, we came across a part of the road that was partially washed out from the rain.  It was still passable but it was tight.  Half of the road was missing and there was a big hole.  Our guide had all of us get out of our open jeep vehicle and walk across the washed out section of the road and then he drove across with the help and guidance of some of the other tourists and a trainee guide.   After we walked around the big in the road I turned to my husband and said “I hope we don’t have to do this in the dark on the way back.”  I mostly was worried about having to get out of the jeep and walking several feet and waiting for the jeep at night while all the animals were out and about.

The game drive carried on, we saw several different animals as we made our way through the reserve.  Now it was dark and time to start heading back to meet up with the rest of our tour group, that took the other excursion option, for dinner.  But we soon noticed that we kept returning to the same spot, we seemed to be lost.  At one point our guide even got out and seemed to be trying to navigate by the stars.  We were all starting to get a little worried. The driver stopped a couple of times to try and get a cell phone signal which he finally did.  Whoever he talked to seemed to point in the right direction because after running into a large herd of aggressive buffalo we found ourselves back at the giant pothole.  And once again we were asked to get out of the jeep and walk across the road and wait for the jeep.  Only this time it was much more scary.  As we stood on the other side of the sinkhole it was so dark all we could see was the jeeps headlights.  First two horizontal headlights and then two vertical headlights.  Yep, he drove right into the giant hole.

Now, we had no jeep and had to walk in the pitch black back to our camp.  You could not see two feet in front of you it was so dark.  Fortunately I had a little $3.00 flashlight I got at Walmart, with me in my bag and my son had his video camera that had a light on it.  Those were the only two things we had for light to guide us back to the camp and protect us from the animals.  It was seriously scary, you could hear the sounds of the animals, we had just passed a herd of buffalo that was just up the road.  Which by the way are responsible for more humans deaths than any other animal in that region.

After about 20 mins of walking we made it safely back to camp and had ourselves quite the adventure.

From Cindy, California