NorthWest Carrollton

Barcelona is a city that seems to have everything a tourist could want. Great weather, a compact city that is easy to get around, full of art, culture and entertainment venues, great food and friendly locals. Of course, the proximity of Barceloneta beach to the city centre means that tourists can enjoy a day in the city sightseeing and finish up the day on the soft sand with an icy glass of Sangria. What more could you want for a great fun filled holiday?

If you’ve been to Barcelona before and want to see another side of the local culture, or if you are looking for a party or event to spice up your holiday, you may want to look at the possibility of visiting Barcelona when the city is celebrating one of its famous festivals.

There are many festivals during the year in Barcelona because not only do Barcelonians get to celebrate the national holidays that the rest of Spain celebrates, there are also many festivals that Catalans celebrate as well. Add to that local neighbourhood festivities and what you’ve got is a city that never seems to stop partying! This means that tourists can rest assured, that nearly any time of year, something or someone will be being celebrated while they are there!

Sant Juan is a popular fun- filled festival dedicated to Saint John. The origins of this celebration date back to Pagan times where people celebrated the summer solstice by feasting and drinking and dancing around huge bonfires, said to ward off evil spirits.

The theme of fire has carried through to the modern version of this festival, in the form of fuegos artificiales, better know as fireworks! As well as council sponsored fireworks shows, the local kids get to enjoy setting off loud cracking fireworks in local squares and plazas in the weeks leading up to the festival.

On the day itself (usually the 23rd June), people gather in the streets to dance and celebrate. You wont have to go far to join in the fun as many communities sponsor a free live music concert in their neighbourhood, but if you want to head to the real action of the festival, head to the beach where you can join in on one of the all night dance parties, complete with dancing and music until dawn, and lots of fireworks!

The Gracia street festival, held in mid August is another exciting celebration you can enjoy in Barcelona. The festival is a community event where the residents of the streets get together to decorate their street in a theme of their choice. A committee is formed to ensure the project is designed and completed in time for the grand opening. This is serious business! Each street is competing for the title of the Best Street of the festival, and planning for the next festival often begins the very week after the festival ends!

Thousands of brightly coloured plastic bottles and other found objects are used to splash the streets with colour. Giant paper mache figures guard the entry and exit to the streets and coloured lights are everywhere. The festival runs for a week where a panel of judges decide which street is the best.

Of course, like all street festivals in Catalonia, beer on tap will be available on just about every street corner, to get the party going. Bands will be set up in each decorated street to encourage passers by to come inside, admire the hard work and creativity of the residents and have some fun at the same time.

The Festival La Merce is another exciting event that brings celebration to the streets of Barcelona in late September for five days between the 19th and 24th. Celebrating the patron saint of the city, street parades, fire parades and giant paper mache figures will take to the city streets. Free concerts will be on every street corner to entertain the crowd.

These are just some of the many exciting events that give Barcelona the well-earned reputation of being one of the party capitals in Europe. So what are you waiting for? Just make sure your book your accommodation in Barcelona on time, to avoid disappointment!

From The Bronx to Manhattan, New York’s City’s diverse neighbourhoods and eclectic cultural scene has made it one of the most desirable holiday locations in the world. A vacation in New York City can incorporate a variety of attractions: from the iconic Statue of Liberty to the uptown galleries of SoHo. However, in the summer, holidays in New York in can involve much more as the city’s vast green space and open parks really come to life.

Take a summer break in New York City and you’ll find that the city’s main landmarks glisten in the sunshine. For instance, the ferry trip to Ellis Island to see the Statue of Liberty is much more pleasant in the summer and the view from the landmark’s summit seems all the more stunning. Additionally, explore the delights of Times Square and before heading down Fifth Avenue to discover the Empire State Building and the Rockefeller Plaza.

New York’s fine summer weather also allows tourists to appreciate some of its most beautiful architecture in style – including the New York Public Library, seen by many as one of the best examples of Beaux Arts architecture, and the Grand Central Terminal, whose vaulted ceiling adorned with a medieval zodiac design continues to astound both travellers and New York residents alike.

If you want to spend some of your summer holiday in New York indoors, make sure you spend them in the city’s most celebrated art galleries and museums. Manhattan is replete with some of the world’s finest art collections and America’s most prestigious historical artefacts. Among New York’s finest museums are the Guggenheim Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Jewish Museum – all of which can be found in the environs of Manhattan.

But if you really want to make use of the spectacular summer weather in New York, make sure you spend time in some of New York’s best parks. Each borough of New York boasts its own unique park spaces, the most popular including the Pelham Bay Park in The Bronx and Flushing Meadow Park in Queens. However, the crowning glory of New York City’s parks is surely Central Park, which offers all who pass through a chance to escape the city’s dense array of skyscrapers and crowded streets. While in Central Park, enjoy the serenity of the Bethesda Terrace and Fountain or take in the tranquillity of Strawberry Fields – a section of the park that’s dedicated to the memory of former Beatle John Lennon.

Central Park forms a fabulous intersection between three of New York’s most famous neighbourhoods: the ritzy Upper East Side, the charming Upper West Side and the bustling area of Harlem. As a result, Central Park acts as a fantastic point from which to navigate the complex streets of New York, and tourists in New York City will be able to find an array of hotels in Central Park, Manhattan to suit their purposes. So whether you plan to spend your summer break in New York taking horse-drawn carriage rides in the sun or exploring Central Park Zoo, make sure you make the most of the sunshine in this dazzling cosmopolitan city.

Cleveland sits on the southern banks of Lake Erie at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River a city of green parks, lively neighbourhoods and historic buildings. Local residents are proud of its high quality of life and recent awards that attest to its liveability. Miles of parkland encircle the city, while museums, sporting and cultural events and visitor friendly attractions lure residents and visitors alike to Downtown areas. It is one of the few American cities with park access in the heart of the city. Visitors, especially, are often surprised to discover a vibrant Downtown with distinct neighbourhoods and a lively urban atmosphere. True, its roots are certainly more prosaic than those of New York, Los Angeles or Boston, but Cleveland has outgrown its industrial past. Once known as a steel town during the Industrial Era of Ohios development, it is now a healthy mix of manufacturing and service industries.

Clevelands Public Square provides a skyline of skyscrapers now, but its origins go back to wilderness beginnings when Moses Cleaveland arrived from Connecticut to survey the region in 1796. It is difficult to imagine an old time village green amid horse drawn carriages and farm animals ready for market instead of the mass of traffic and one-way streets there today. Cleaveland drew up the plan for the town that would later bear his name (the awas dropped in 1834 in order to fit the citys name on a newspapers masthead). The city saw a growth spurt in 1825 with the opening of the Erie Canal, establishing a water route between Lake Erie, the Ohio River and all ports south. Subsequent railroad development advanced Cleveland further and, by 1855, it had become a hub for lumber, ore, coal and farm produce. Later still, it developed as a centre for metal fabrication and oil refining and, by the 1930s, it had the vibrant look and feel of a major city. Today, Cleveland still possesses a strong industrial base, although its economy has diversified into the service sector, as well as science, education and technology.

Unlike many American cities, Clevelands Downtown is not only lively, it is the focal point around which the rest of the city nestles. In the middle of the Downtown area is the historic Public Square, a European-style square with statues and fountains. The lakefront, having benefited from committed renewal, is home to the stunningly designed Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, which, when it opened in 1995, epitomised not only the renewal of Cleveland’s Downtown but the citys growing cultural presence as well.

More recent additions to Clevelands Downtown include Jacobs Field, home to the Cleveland Indians baseball team, and Cleveland Browns Stadium, where the Cleveland Browns play football. The Great Lakes Science Center with its Cleveland Clinic OMNIMAX Theater, nestled between the Rock Hall and the stadium, features a hands-on look at science. Downtown areas, such as the Theater District, the Historic Warehouse District, the Flats Entertainment District and the Historic Gateway District, are only a few of the trendy spots that continue to grow and prosper.

Cleveland is blessed with long, hot summer days, during which locals enjoy the many restaurants featuring alfresco dining, picnic in the surrounding state, national and municipal parks, or gather around the barbecue for casual entertaining. During the cold, sometimes snowy winters, the citys cultural attractions, including theatre, symphony, opera and museums, thrive. Cleveland offers all the trappings of any American city (shopping, sightseeing, excellent service) and, although it possesses a historic flavour popular with tourists and residents, it is most definitely a city that keeps moving forward.

The city was founded on August 15, 1519, by Pedro Arias de Avila, also known as Pedrarias Davila.

Within a few years of its founding, the city became a launching point for the exploration and conquest of Peru and a transit point for gold and silver headed back to Spain through the Isthmus.

In 1671 Henry Morgan with a band of 1400 men attacked and looted the city, which was subsequently destroyed by fire.

The ruins of the old city still remain and are a popular tourist attraction known as Panama la Viejo Old Panama.

It was rebuilt in 1673 in a new location about 5 miles west-southwest of the original city.

This location is now known as the Casco Viejo or Old Hull of the city.

The year before the discovery of gold, the Panama Railroad Company was formed, but the railroad did not begin operation until 1855.Between 1848 and 1869, the year the first transcontinental railroad was completed in the United States, about 375,000 persons crossed the isthmus from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and 225,000 in the opposite direction.

That traffic greatly increased the prosperity of the city during that period.

Visitors who wish to experience more of the local atmosphere are advised to look for accommodations nearer the commercial and financial centre of the city, that is the neighbourhoods of Bella Vista, Marbella or El Cangrejo.

For the tighter budgets Casco Viejo is a better option. In the neighbourhood known as Bella Vista, Calle Uruguay is home to Panama’s newest cosmopolitan restaurants among them La Rojas, Bistro 10, Peperoncini and La Posta.

The city is also growing as a haven for seniors of the United States due to low tax incentives and a tropical climate.

The demand for space in Panama City has sparked a construction boom and skyscrapers are being to built as condos to supply the number of people entering the city.

A new building, currently under construction in the city, the Ice Tower will be nearly the height of the old World Trade Centre.

Billionaire tycoon Donald Trump sees the citys future as a bright one. In 2006, he moved into the construction frenzy in Panama City with a tower that is to be more than 800 feet tall.

The city is emerging as a regional player in finance and chances are that more buildings are on the way to supply all the business arrivals the city is getting.

Unfortunately, the waters in the coast of the city are polluted, and bathing in them is not allowed.

However, there are beaches available nearby. The closest is the Playa Bonita Complex, right next to the city, crossing the Bridge of the Americas.

There are also many more beaches, in the Pacific and Caribbean side one of the advantages of Panama is the possibility of bathing in two oceans easily, as they are just hours apart. In recent years there has been huge development of beach hotels.