St.Pauls Bells

The morning is bright but cold, “28 degrees,” Karen reads from her thermometer. Last evening’s storm has feathered the trail and surrounding forest with snow. There are stops for water, for granola bars. Sooner than expected, we reach Dewey Point.

Here we gape. At 7,385 feet, the point is a granite prow that lunges out over Yosemite Valley. But I’m not awestruck. I’m befuddled. I can’t tell where I am. All I see are massive gray granite walls outlined in snow, gorgeous but strange. I could be in the Himalayas. “Where,” I ask Karen, “is Half Dome?” Karen stares at me quizzically. “Right there,” she says. She indicates the large rock face looming straight in front of us. Oh.

But that’s the point of visiting Yosemite in winter. The chance to see it new. In 1872, John Muir wrote — no, as much as I revere Muir, he’s part of the problem. Yosemite is one of those places that too many people have loved too well for too long. John Muir’s words, Ansel Adams’ photographs, countless postcards and family snapshots — all of these make it hard to visit Yosemite without feeling like you’ve already seen it a thousand times.

In winter, I hoped, things would be different. So I brought my wife and son up for a long weekend in January, looking to be astonished.

With a 9-year-old boy in tow, we also required snow fun. On our first day, he and I take the park bus from Yosemite Valley up to the Badger Pass tubing area. Here we climb into specially designed inner tubes, as pneumatic and brightly colored as Teletubbies, and slide down a slippery snow track.

I reach bottom first and rise from my tube. Gaining speed behind me, my son makes a realization: If he steers his speeding inner tube into my shins, he will send me flying into the air. So he does.

n the Mangueira shantytown, a grim collection of hovels tumbling along the steep slopes behind Rio’s mountaintop Christ the Redeemer statue, drug dealers toting automatic weapons have melted behind a sea of beer vendors, T-shirt hawkers and makeshift barbecue stands, all set up to greet hordes of visitors who wouldn’t dare set foot in the slum any other time of year.They come to watch rehearsals by Mangueira, one of Rio de Janeiro’s most traditional samba groups, known here as schools.

Each year, the group spends more than $1 million to mount a single 80-minute-long carnival parade featuring 4,500 drummers and dancers in the Sambadrome stadium.

And as the carnival parade date approaches, the group’s colors of pink and green cover the shantytown’s narrow alleys and exposed brick dwellings. Elaborate glitter-encrusted costumes hang in the windows, and little children, covered in glitter, run around banging on tambourines.

“It’s one big factory,” explains Max Lopes, Mangueira’s carnival designer. “The community plays a big part because of all their love for the school. Everyone’s part of the team.”

Carnival is a big business in Rio de Janeiro’s shantytowns, which are home to the city’s 12 top-tier schools and the dozens of others that parade in samba’s second and third divisions.

Each year, the schools employ thousands of seamstresses, painters, designers and musicians along with small armies of muscle-bound men to push around the huge floats.

Christmas is here, and it’s time to wrap up your New Year plans. Read on for our top destinations to ring in 2008.

Frolic with the fairies in Reykjavík

Bonfires, northern lights, steaming drinks, fireworks and little folk: there’s an additional magic in the air on New Year’s Eve (Gamlarskrold) in Iceland. Trolls, fairies and elves are said to join revellers in their celebrations around chains of communal bonfires. Folk songs are sung, candles are waved and at midnight the skies explode in firework displays (the best being in Reykjavík). The subsequent dancing and partying lasts until sunrise - which in Iceland’s midwinter is about midday!

With luck, fireworks won’t be the only aerial illuminations: Iceland’s upper latitudes are ideal for viewing the aurora borealis (northern lights) from October to March.

To find out more, contact the Icelandic Tourist Board (website: www.icetourist.is).

World’s biggest firework blitz, Madeira

Size matters - especially when it comes to firework displays. Nations compete to claim the largest, the longest and the most spectacular lightshows in the world at New Year. And on 1 January 2007 it became official: Funchal’s annual fireworks show was confirmed as the world’s biggest.

Each year the capital’s bay transforms into a fiery crucible with white lights sugaring the hillsides, 250,000 electric lights colouring the waterside and over 600,000 fireworks fizzing through the air when the clock strikes 12. The semicircular bay is naturally shaped like an amphitheatre, so everybody is guaranteed a superb view.

Madeira Islands Tourism (website:  www.madeiraislands.travel) can provide information on travel and accommodation.

Reach 2008 first in the Chatham Islands

If you’ve had your fill of fireworks, more mulled wine than you care to admit and simply can’t face another crowded celebration, how about shunning the usual parties and heading for the isolated and sparsely populated Chatham Islands, 1,000km (621 miles) east of New Zealand. Why here? This Pacific Ocean chain lays claim to Kahuitara Point on Pitt Island - the world’s first populated place to see the sun rise on 2008.

The Chathams are home to just 600 islanders, leaving the long sandy beaches and gently rolling scenery largely empty of people. They have excellent fishing, hearty food and unique wildlife, making this destination the perfect antidote to New Year’s party fatigue.

You can read more online at Chatham Islands Tourism (website: www.chathams.com or www.chathams.co.nz).

Party on the beach in Rio

Who says you have to be cold to celebrate New Year? Why not join the hoards of revellers that pile onto Rio’s balmy Copacabana Beach to samba in the sand. An incredible 2 million white-clad Brazilians amass here annually in a party second only to carnival in scale; it sees live music from some of Brazil’s top bands, a huge offshore fireworks display and celebrations that last until dawn.

Wear white for luck and peace, but don’t don your best: sparking wine is shaken in all directions at midnight. White flowers are also cast into the sea.

More information can be found at the Brazil Tourism Office (website: www.braziltourism.org).

Waltz into 2008 in Vienna

Can there be a more elegant way to see in the New Year than this? When Austria’s clocks reach 12, the Blue Danube Waltz strikes up, and a nation swishes and glides its way into New Year’s Day. At the heart of the celebrations is Vienna’s centuries-old New Year’s Imperial Ball, which sees rustling white ball gowns and sleek black jackets whirl amid the imperial majesty of the Hapsburg Empire of old accompanied by the finest musicians in the country.

But if you can’t secure tickets to the ball, Vienna is awash with other concerts and events.  On 31 December, street celebrations start in the early afternoon with music, sparkling wine, food and fireworks along a New Year trail.

There is more information online courtesy of the Vienna Tourist Board (website: www.wien.info).

Have a ball in New York

You’ve watched with the world as the famous Times Square Ball Drop (website: www.timessquarenyc.org) takes place on the stroke of midnight. Now you want to experience the dazzling lights and brimming energy of the New York celebrations first hand. But you needn’t pitch your spot for a four- or five-hour freezing wait below if you plan ahead; you can witness the festivities from up high by booking a place in the surrounding buildings. These include Novotel New York Hotel and the Marriott Hotel - which even has the city’s only revolving restaurant if the celebrations don’t leave you giddy enough.

Alternatively, join thousands of New Yorkers for the fireworks display above Central Park or book a spot on the Annual Brooklyn Bridge Walk (website: www.newyorktalksandwalks.com) and reach the top in time to see fireworks in five boroughs.

You can find more ideas and information online (website: www.nycvisit.com).

The best of the rest

We’ve cherry picked our favourite New Year destinations, but there are plenty more unforgettable parties to join in around the globe. Why not witness the spectacular Sydney Harbour Bridge fireworks display up close on a dinner and drinks cruise? Or step into a winter wonderland where the waterways freeze and the glorious museums stay open in St Petersburg? Alternatively, wrap up warm, join the street party and bellow Auld Lang Syne in Edinburgh’s famous Hogmanay celebrations.

Author: Charlotte Amelines

A new year always means a chance for a new start. You and yours can begin this new year by making some travel resolutions together, regardless of your time and budget restraints. Put aside those old travel habits and make some new ones! Let this be the year that your travel plans focus on fun, fantasy, and festivities!
(1) We’re going to plan a real vacation. No, it doesn’t have to be an around the world cruise or first class getaway (but if you can afford it, what are you waiting for?) It does have to be an honest-to-goodness vacation, though. No cell phones, no laptops. Mark the dates on the calendar and keep it just like you’d keep any business appointment. The business of romantic travel, though, is a fun one and an activity that the two of you can plan for months.
(2) We’re going to involve each other in the trip planning. All too often, one partner gets the job for planning a trip…and that task quickly becomes a bore. Plan your trips together! Anticipation is half the fun. Visit a travel agent. Collect brochures. Buy a guidebook. Rent a video about your destination. Search the internet for information.
(3) We’re going to do something we’ve never done. Here you can be as mild — or as wild — as you dare. Go whitewater rafting. Rent a houseboat. Take a hot air balloon ride. Spend the night in a local bed and breakfast. Learn to scuba dive. Dance the whole night away under the stars. The choice is yours.
(4) We’re going to take one mini-vacation every month. Whether it’s for the night or just for the night out, plan one tiny slice of a vacation every single month. The only rule: you must pretend you’re on vacation. Book a night at a local bed and breakfast. Call your local hotel and find out their non-peak nights (in business-oriented cities, it’s usually Friday and Saturday) then plan a short romantic getaway.
(5) We’re going to go to at least one festival. Special events take place at just about every community around the world. Whatever your interests — from square dancing to sandcastle building — you’ll find a festival celebrating with a day or two of fun and food. If you don’t have the time or budget to go far, contact area chamber of commerce or tourism offices within a day’s drive of your home for their calendar of events. If you can, extend your trip into a long weekend. If you’ve got the time and resources, check out some of the major fun festivals: Carnival, Mardi Gras, Rio’s Carnivale. Don’t forget your costume!

One Christmas when I was in high school, I received what I thought at the time was an odd gift – a personal safety alarm. I thanked my parents, but wondered why they thought I needed personal protection. As it turns out I never used the alarm but I sure FELT safer when I was walking home in the dark.

To protect your person when traveling, there are a variety personal safety options. Actual weapons of course, which I don’t recommend - studies have proven you’re more likely to get hurt carrying your own weapon. Pepper spray or mace, which you would spray in an attacker’s face, or a personal alarm which usually includes a pull string or a button to push and makes a very loud and distinct noise.

If you are going to purchase a personal safety product for your travels, here are a few things to think about. Check if personal defense products like pepper spray and mace are illegal where you’re visiting. Make sure that you have extra batteries for your personal alarm and check them every so often. The last thing you need is to activate the personal alarm and nothing happens.

Another thing to consider if you’re going to carry mace or pepper spray as personal safety product – they inflict real pain. So protect yourself with a personal defense product but make sure it’s for a GOOD reason.