Tourist Eye – Travel Blog

1. Year of the Dragon 2012: 5 Chinese Destinations fit for a Dragon ow.ly/8GRSL #travel #tips #China
2. #TouristEye Planner now available for Google Chrome- Plan your trips in a simple and fun way ow.ly/8FDYf #travel
3. Experience luxury, culture and adventure in Dubai through timelapse ow.ly/8E2Hr#travel #Dubai
4. Some reasons to visit Mazatlan ow.ly/8E2Tn #travel #tips #Mexico
5. 5 great beach spots in Latin America
6. Top Venice experiences for romantic travelers ow.ly/8Icnz #travel #tips #Veniceow.ly/8CvUg #travel #tips
7. 25 best things to do in Hungaryow.ly/8GR2Y #travel #tips #Hungary
8. Los Angeles free museum weekend will take place Saturday and Sunday, January 28 to 29 ow.ly/8yKTG #travel
9. Top 10 Adventure Tours for discovering new experiences ow.ly/8GRWN #travel #tips#adventure
10. Tips to visit the Taj Mahal ow.ly/8GQW0#travel #tips #India

In many countries, there are cities, neighborhoods or areas that glow with lots of colours. This cheerful facades of houses, are located both in warm countries such as Mexico and India and in the icy landscapes of Greenland or Denmark. Most colorful facades that are located in coastal areas in antiquity served to guide the fishermen to your home.

Discover this guide of colorful neighborhoods in the world, places decorated in an original way to reflect the character of its inhabitants tahta also let us to contemplate the beauty of these destinations, thanks to ElViajero of El País.com.

1. Cudillero, Spain

It is a beautiful coastal town located in Asturias. Its main attraction are its houses perched on hillsides that surround the town.

2. Barrio de San Juan,  Spain

Located in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, it is literally a mountain of houses of hundreds of colors. From this picturesque spot, we can enjoy the best views of the island.

3. Bo-Kaap, South Africa

This famous district of Cape Town, is a unique place to experience life in South Africa, learn more about the country’s history and admire the beautiful colorful houses that fill with joy the area.

4. San Juan, Puerto Rico

The capital of Puerto Rico is a perfect example of their houses, with facades of thousands of colors with balconies full of flowers, reflect the usual mood of its inhabitants.

5. Guanajuato, Mexico

This old Spanish colonial town, is one of the most visited of Mexico for its colorful architecture, which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1989. It is also a famous place, since here, Diego Rivera, one of the most important muralists in the world, was born.

6. Notting Hill, United Kingdom

It is a popular neighborhood located in the west of London. Despite being best known for its Portobello Market or the Carnival, it has peculiar colorful houses and shops that make this area a very different place to the rest of London.

7. Willemstad, Netherlands Antilles

It is the capital of the Caribbean island of Curaçao. Dutch colonial architecture gives the city a very picturesque atmosphere.

8. Barrio de Irala,  Spain

This district is a picturesque area in Bilbao, born in the early twentieth century around a large flour mill. The houses were made in English style and its walls are painted in different colors, forming a unique mosaic.

9. Ribeira, Portugal

The Ribeira is the oldest part of Porto and one of the most interesting areas of the city. This neighborhood is built on a hill that descends to the river Douro and its labyrinthine streets show colorful houses.

10. Barrio Reus, Uruguay

Reus is a neighborhood of the city of Montevideo that stands out for its modernist architecture and its houses painted each with a different color, an unusual environment that we can’t find in other regions of the country.

There are many other places in the with colorful buildings, such as the Golden Lane of Prague, the town of Manarola in Italy, Valparaiso in Chile, St. John’s in Canada, Kulusuk in Greenland, Warsaw, the capital of Poland, Indian cities like Jodhpur, the port of Nyhavn in Copenhagen… the list could be almost endless, so we want to know what is your favorite place to experience a life between colors.

We bring great news for all travelers: a few days ago we launched our first app for Google Chrome, already available on Chrome Web Store.

TouristEye Planner is a very useful tool for all those who like to travel. It is easy to use, very visual, you can plan the trip day by day, export all that information to our Android or iPhone and also, you don’t need to be a TouristEye user to start using it.

Some of its unique features are:

• Very user friendly, to plan a trip become a fun experience. You can drop and drag cities and places and see all the information on one screen.
• Full screen map to plan your itinerary in detail.
• Possibility to add new places that are not in our database in a quick way.  TouristEye is a collaborative travel guide.
• Synchronize your itinerary with your Android or iPhone to have all the details of your adventure available 100% offline while traveling, maps included!
• Soon we will add more features, like to include your flights and accommodation bookings and private notes to have your trip completely organized.

You can install TouristEye Planner from the Chrome Web Store.

Many of you have already asked us, and today we launch our first widget so you can share your traveler profile on your blog or web. You can copy the HTML code in Settings > Widgets.

In the widget your friends and readers will see your travel map, where are you right now, and how many countries and cities you have visited. A small summary of your passion, your passion for traveling.

Any other ideas of widgets you would want to add to your blog or web?

It’s a new year and for many of you this is the time to start planning your next trip or vacation. For those that are just fed up with the regular travel destinations, below you will find some ideas that might help your decision. The world is a big place and there are surely places that you might not know of. It’s always better to see something new everytime you decide to leave home and discover something. And you cannot discover many things in the same usual places. 2012 should be the year where everyone tries to exit the usual and break the boundaries of conventions and this should also be true for traveling. Here are some cool ideas for travel in 2012:

-La Tomatina Festival in Spain - When you want to have some of the craziest and wildest ideas about what a festival should be themed like, leave it to the Spanish people to decide. They have some of the most unusual events in the world and La Tomatina is one of them. As the title briefly describes it, this is truly the biggest food fight in the world. The weapon of choice for the people of Buñol is the tomato. Tens of thousands of people come each year to take part in this peaceful battle…

-Oktoberfest Beer Festival in Germany – Here is probably nobody in the whole world that has not yet heard about the biggest party of each year. Oktoberfest is both a symbol and a tradition of Germany, with millions having spent at leat a day in this mega event. It takes place each year, near the city of Munich, in southern Germany, close to the Austrian border.

-Hot Air Balloons in the Loire Valley - Beautiful castles, snowy mountains and sandy beaches, great food and the best wine in the world are just some of the wonderful features found in France. But have you ever thought about cruising over the most famous castles in a hot air balloon. The Loire Valley is maybe the most renowned area in France after Paris. The concentration of marvelous castles and breathtaking sceneries. Some of the most popular travel destination in Europe are here, with the castles of Chenonceau, Blois, Chaumont and many others spread along the river Loire. This is a unique and once in a lifetime experience that will leave marks on you forever.

1. Ten islands to visit in Malaysia ow.ly/8vZDC #travel #tips #Malaysia
2. Top beaches in Latin America. What is you favourite? ow.ly/8xpx7 #travel #tips
3. Destinations for conquering your phobias through #travel ow.ly/8yKQj #tips#phobias
4. 5 rules for travel happiness ow.ly/8vZwJ #travel #tips
5. Find out the best things to do in Madrid in just one day ow.ly/8xvlC #travel #Madrid#fitur
6. Five kid-friendly things to do in London ow.ly/8xptS #travel #tips #family
7. Best places for brunch in New York City ow.ly/8vZyL #travel #tips #NYC
8. 10 best national parks in South America ow.ly/8uyOr #travel #tips
9. World’s strangest theme parks ow.ly/8s0C0 #travel #tips
10. What are the world’s most ethical tourism destinations? ow.ly/8yKEU #travel #tips

Taking advantage of low winter temperatures in the city of Harbin, an impressive International Festival of Snow and Ice Sculptures  is held every year since 1963, only interrupted during the Cultural Revolution.

Harbin is located in northeast China and is highly influenced by the harsh Siberian winter, with average temperatures of -16.8 ° C at this time of year, but it can be as cold as -38.1 degrees Celsius in winter, so it has the perfect conditions for keeping the ice carvings for about a month.

The festival began on January 5th, although the duration may be prolonged as long as weather permits. The ice comes from the surface of the nearby Shongua river and for extracting the ice blocks are needed swing saws and other gadgets.

This tradition comes from the time of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) since the practice of local fishermen and farmers was to use ice lanterns as a guide, since they were very resistant to wind. It was just frozen water in which a candle was introduced. From there arises the idea of ​​using these nifty lanterns as decorations.

Different technologies are used to construct the huge buildings, palaces, monuments and statues, from traditional ice lanterns to the modern lasers through chisels and saws. Multicoloured lights and music are also used to give colour to ice, creating variations on sculptured spectacles when lit up especially at night.

This year, the star figure is a six-meters-tall Marilyn Monroe, located in one of the most historic streets of the city, although it is possible to admire Japanese castles, palaces, pagodas…. that attract every year hundreds of thousands of visitors.

There are three main areas, where these works of art are exhibited: Sun Island Park, Harbin Ice & Snow World and Zhaolin garden.

Other popular winter activities that can be done in the area include Yabuli alpine skiing in Yabuli or winter-swimming in the Songhua River.

Via: The Frame

If you only have one day to visit Madrid, we have prepared for you a simple itinerary that covers some of the most iconic and essential attractions in the capital of Spain.

This one-day tour in Madrid, begins at Plaza de Oriente, continues up to the Puerta del Sol and ends at the famous Prado and Reina Sofia Museums, not to mention other major attractions of this vibrant city.

1. Royal Palace

This magnificent building was built in the eighteenth century by order of Philip V over the remaints of an old Moorish castle. The interior features a large number of rooms that can be visited and where you can admire paintings by Velázquez , Goya, Rubens, El Greco and Caravaggio. Other attractions are the gardens that surround the palace like the Campo del Moro and Sabatini gardens. Free admission on Wednesdays.

2. Almudena Cathedral

It is a glorious temple of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries of 102 meters long and 73 tall, with a mixture of styles that is located opposite the Royal Palace.

3. Gran Vía

It is one of the main streets of Madrid. It runs from Alcala street to Plaza de España. It was built in the early twentieth century as an important point for shopping, tourism and leisure in the capital. It is famous for its theaters and musicals, as well as to its international fashion shops.

4. Puerta del Sol

It is the hub of the city and the first buildings in the square date back from the sixteenth century. Here is the kilometer zero of the roads in Spain and it is a place where many historical events in the history of the country have taken place and the great clock give the New Year’s welcoming to almost all Spanish people.

5. Plaza Mayor

It is one of the most beautiful squares in Madrid, which was begun in the seventeenth century, by order of King Philip III whose statue adorns the place. Under their porches, we can find traditional stores are also a multitude of bars and restaurants well known by locals.

6. Retiro Park

It is one of the  most significant and beautiful spots in the Spanish capital. It houses items such as large pond that include the monument to Alfonso XII, theVelazquez’s House and the Palacio de Cristal, the rose garden and the Parterre which has one of the oldest trees in Madrid.

7. Puerta de Alcalá

This is one of the most famous monuments of Madrid. Built between 1769 and 1778 by King Carlos III, was built as a triumphal arch to celebrate the arrival of the monarch to the capital. The door, of granite, is 19.5 meters high and stands out for its elegance and proportion.

8. Cibeles Fountain

It is a symbol of Madrid. The fountain is carved in marble and depicts the Cibeles goddess on a throne on a chariot drawn by lions, while she holds a scepter and the city’s keys. This is the venue of the great triumphs of Real Madrid football club and it has many important buildings around it, as the Bank of Spain, the Buenavista Palace, Linares Palace and the Palace of Communications.

9. Prado Museum

This gallery is one of the best museums in the world, it boasts the most complete collection of Spanish painting and many of the masterpieces of great painters of global importance, such as El Greco, Velázquez, Goya, Bosch, Titian, Van Dyck and Rembrandt. Some of the most famous paintings are Las Meninas by Velazquez, Goya’s Majas, The Knight of the hand in his Breast by El Greco, The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch and The Three Graces by Rubens. Free admission Tuesday through Saturday from 18:00 to 20:00 and Sunday from 17:00 to 20:00 hours.

10. Reina Sofia Museum

Located in the old General Hospital Carlos III and commissioned by the architect Sabatini, it  houses one of the most sought permanent collections, including works by Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, Picasso, Zuloaga, Nonell… Among the most significant works that can be admired is the “Guernica” by Picasso. You can visit it free of charge from Monday to Friday from 19:00 to 21:00, Saturday from 14:30 to 21:00 hours and Sundays from 10:00 to 14:30 hours.

If you still want to go out, Madrid has a great nightlife, so we recommend that you take some tapas in the Barrio de las Letras and then get close to bars, pubs and clubs of Malasaña and Chueca areas, the first led to the independent music fans and Chueca, however, is the epicenter of the LGBT community.

After visiting this city, maybe you will decide to return, so when you have a little more time, you can take a look at these ideas of  things you shouldn’t miss on your visit to Madrid.

For staying, you have no problem because there are a huge offert of hotels in Madrid (nearly 76,300 hotel beds). You can also find cheap hostels in Madrid.

Bizerte is a town of Africa, approximately 65 kilometers northwest of the capital Tunis, is located on the Mediterranean coast (facing the Strait of Sicily).

I was working with a cruise ship named New Flamenco. Saturdays we usually anchored in La Goulette, another port of the Tunisian Republic, but there were two or three occasions we had to change the route and had chance to experiment the experience of visiting beautiful Bizerte.

It’s kind of crowded near the port and the main attraction is a street market of those in which you can achieved almost everything. Between eggs, guitars and chickens I spoted a poster of Diego Maradona. I smile. He is everywhere. I also almost bought a scorpion to have as a pet in my cabin, I did not finally, I regret it, it could have been a good company in the tiny “room” I had.

There was also a gorgeous place, right across a river where there were several boats. Children fished and people sat relaxed, smoking a special snuff flavored in the shisha or water pipe (narguile). It is not common to see women in bars in the area, much less alone.

We passed near an old wall near the place and had some lunch in front of a beach. The restaurant staff spoke little English and some French. I spoked with one of them, asking about the pretty and typical yellow flowers that children were selling from table to table. To my great astonishment, the boy began to flirt with me, asked me for my e-mail but for some reason we could never communicate.

The next year my friends returned to Bizerte, they told me they went back to the same restaurant and the nice young man asked about me. He remembered my name and wanted to give me a present. To everyones surprise, he took off a golden medal and asked them to give it to me when they saw me. I never received it … but I find the story charming. I wish I could write to thank him.

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2. Barcelona wants to build an artificial ski slope on the shores of the Mediterranean ow.ly/8qDdW #travel #tips #skiing
3. U.S. National Parks are free this weekend to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day ow.ly/8s0k7 #travel #free #USA
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8. The world’s best bars. What is your favourite? ow.ly/8mtPn #travel #tips
9. Top 45 destinations to go in 2012 ow.ly/8mtAu #travel #tips
10. Discover ancient villages and homemade delights in Rural Portugal ow.ly/8qD44#travel #tips #Portugal