Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Girl Getaways: Savannah

I have always had a sweet spot for Savannah. The name alone conjures up a slower pace to enjoy life. A couple of years ago, my husband surprised me by inviting some of our friends to take a day trip to Savannah. Reminiscing about it made me think how much fun it would be to go again with some of my girlfriends. Here's a short weekend getaway itinerary that anyone can follow as a guide!
While Savannah has a lot to offer and what you and the group end up doing ultimately depends on what you all want and your interests. You can enjoy the typical girlfriend getaway activities, but if you're more adventurous you can all go down the less traveled path. For example, take some pictures in front of the Savannah Gas Company Globe. Originally built in the 1950s, it has since been repainted to represent the view from outer space. There's also the option of taking your picture with Savannah's "Waving Girl". This statue along the riverside memorializes Florence Martus, the woman that welcomed ships with a wave for almost forty-four years!
If you are foodies, Savannah has great food tours and cooking classes. The Savor Savanah Foodie Tour through Edible Destinations by Epitourean is a great one to choose for such an activity! If you don't want a foodie tour all mapped out for you, go ahead and make your own list of places to check out during your stay. If you go without a list, just ask the hotel concierge or the locals where they would recommend that's not very touristy.
The City Market is another attraction that really shouldn't be missed. It's been a cornerstone of the city since it began in the early 1700s. You and your friends can either walk to it include it in a hop-on hop-off trolley tour. Speaking of tours, there are many besides foodie ones that you can experience with your group. There's one tat let's you explore the historic taverns of Savannah. Any film lovers or movie buffs in the group? There's a movie tour of the city's historical district too!
While this is certainly an extremely short list of ideas, it can also be just enough to whet your appetite to share this destination with your friends one weekend! It's also the type of destination where you can go repeatedly with your friends and your family.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9092182

Chandigarh - A Vibrant and Lively City of Punjab

Chandigarh, a city residing on the ancient site of the Harappan Civilization, is a modern city of Punjab. In fact, it is the capital of the state and came into play after the independence of the country when Lahore, the former capital of Punjab became a part of Pakistan. The city is also the capital of Haryana and is amongst the handful of Indian cities that are capital of two states. It is governed by the central government and administratively is not a part of both the states. It is a modern city filled with every aspect of modernization. The city is sometimes called the "Pensioner's Paradise" for the fact that there is a large number of government offices. It is one of the top cities amongst the Union Territories and arguably has the highest per-capita income. It has a whopping growth rate, making it an inviting city for a number of companies and industries. Excellent road networks, plush residential colonies, ultramodern shopping malls, sleek office buildings, filmy entertainment centres are the prominent attributes of the city that immediately grab one's attention. However, interestingly, there is a perfect balance between commercialization and the natural resources of the city. The city has the third-largest forest cover in the country and records state that 8.51 percentage of its total land that are covered by trees and greenery.
Since the city shares excellent connectivity with all neighboring cities and states, accessing it is an easy task. The Chandigarh railway station is a major railhead in Northern, under Central Indian railway network, and is served by frequent trains. Trains are the budget-friendly modes to access the city and are preferred by many. The good thing is that there are a number of hotels near Chandigarh railway station. These hotels are ideal lodging options to pick if one seeks the convenience of connectivity.
Chandigarh takes pride in being the first-ever planned city in India and still supplant many modern cities in terms of design and rendering the design into reality. Le Corbusier, a renowned French architect master planned the city. Before him, Albert Mayer and Maciej Nowicki were working on the city's plan. But, due to some reason they had to leave their work in the middle. The French architect completely discarded the old plan and created a new plan. There are a number of buildings, monuments, and other structures designed by him existing in different parts of the city. The Open Hand monument is his signature monument, and there are many Open Hand monuments of varying size set at different parts of the city. The largest of them is 26 meters in height and is situated in the Capitol Complex area. The city uses the monument as its emblem and as a medium to spread the message of "open to give and receive".
Chandigarh as a tourist destination offers a plethora of opportunities to relish. It is a part of Tricity circuit, which is a popular tourism circuit in India's tourism. Panchkula and Mohali are the other two parts of Tricity. A couple of most significant sightseeing spots in the city include: Rock Garden,Valley of Animals, Sukhna Lake, Garden of Silence, International Doll Museum, Zakir Hussain Rose Garden, Japanese Garden, Nada Sahib, Government Museum and Art Gallery, Butterfly Park, and Morni Hills. Being a well-connected city, accessing any part of Chandigarh is an easy task. One can hire professional tour guides or simply go solo. Besides, some Chandigarh hotels also offer tour services to their guests.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9089626

The Heart of Zambia - Lusaka

The Capital of Zambia (highly famous for its mind blowing and jaw dropping attraction - the Victoria Falls)- Lusaka is one astonishing and worth-visiting city of this country that also serves to be the home of a large variety of attractions and fascinations. It is a gleaming and glittering cosmopolitan city of Africa and here you will find that every tenth citizen of Zambia belongs to Lusaka and the locals love their city more than anything of this world. There are many tourists who belong to plenty of parts of the world and each time when they plan their holiday trip, they always choose Zambia just because it's the gem of Africa and serves to be the haven of a large variety of captivating and eye catchy attractions.
The easiest and the most comfortable way to travel around the various parts of the city is with the help of Minibuses which are fast, cheap and ubiquitous. It will cost you even less than a dollar to visit the complete city, once you plan to take a ride through these buses. If you are staying at a place where you accommodation or the hotel building lies in close vicinity to some of the major attractions of the town then do opt for walking because it's the best and the most adventurous way to stroll through the various enchanting and charming places on foot. Walking at night is not at all preferable due to the security reasons and also the roads are not those much good.
The city is not abundant with a huge variety of shopping malls or some sparkling or vibrant sites but still there are many points of interests and there is so much you can enjoy and do in this amazing part of Africa. The Cairo Road is the hub and the heart of all the major business activities; the locals usefully hit the magnificent and spectacular sites of some modern shopping malls are fond of the pulsating and enchanting nightlife of the city. Soweto Market is a great grand shopping market - the modern one that features a massive variety of products. You can get almost everything from a clothing item to a bean. The inside of the market is quite like a workshop that is majorly occupied with engine spare parts, the bicycle repair men and traditional medicines. Don't forget to personally take care of your belongings and handbags. The Anglican Cathedral is another eye catchy and attractive landmark of the area - this beautiful allurement is located on the edge of Independence Avenue and Church Road and serves to be an elegant structure that is made up of glass windows and concrete. It is very famous with the name of Cathedral of the Holy Cross and the place was open for worshipers in 1962.
If you head towards the Showground of the city, you will get an opportunity to visit Henry Tayali Gallery that is very popular for exhibiting the artwork of local artisans and people. The Professional and unique masterpieces are enough to leave any one in awe and the whole gallery is well stocked with very distinguished kind of art. For all those people who are with their families and are in search of extreme entertainment and amusement, the Munda Wanga Environmental Park is the perfect place for them. It is a Sanctuary, Wildlife Park, Environmental education centre, the recreational village and the botanical garden as well. This attraction was established in 1956 and with the passage of time it became the most-visited site of the city- it has been recorded that more than fifty thousand people hit this park annually. The major attractions of the park are the twenty baboons and a baby elephant whose name is Phoenix.
There is a wildlife ranch as well that is named as Lilayi Lodge - it offers you a game drive and the opportunity of your life to get up close and personal with the wild animals of the region. This place also features a restaurant and the Sunday buffet is not-to-be-missed feature of this amazing area. Besides, the tourists can also visit many museums in the area, the National museum is the most famous one and there are many other fascinations as well that each visitor will love to see.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9084280