Discovering by chance Victoire’s site: first I’ve really enjoyed the column « comme chez moi »  (« come at my home » about Belgium artits interiors). Different, fun and refine and I absolutely wanted to meet its charming enthousiastic editorial director, Anne Pochet. For three years and half , the Victoire’s paper issue has been the week-end additional magazine of daily paper Le Soir, about trends in culture, lifestyle and fashion.

 - It’s not a women magazine. The first challenge was this magazine must not be sexually identified: 52% of our readers are men. It’s a subjective vision with a proximity idea about what’s going on in Belgium. We avoided all the fashion magazines clichés. Let’s talk about us (Belgium people), not by chauvinism, but to know where is the Belgium ine the world trends. We’ve always found lots of recognition abroad, but really few at home. With Victoire, we kindly look at the country.

 So where is Belgium in wold tendancies?

 - Very good question! It’s really really difficult to say, the image moves fast: lots of people have great ideas and projects. It’s a subtile networking : everybody knows each other, a small land with many shooting stars.

Gratuated of journalism, Anne’s worked first for women magazines and sites of  the media group Sanoma for fifteen years. She wrote about youth litterature, as a children books critic :

 - A great job. I was a young mom and I was happy to make parents discover less formal worlds.

 She became a specialist  in education’s philosophy. For almost a decade now, she’s presented a less “formal vision of eduction and the pratical aspect, without any activist message” in a radio show and a tv talk show at the RTBF: Air de Famille, viewed by 200.000 homes every week. And today as the editorial director of Victoire, her first big difficulty was to make the team. Her eyes sparkle:

 - Everything works with human, but human has to bring content. I am a very good pitcher, choosing the columns. I delegate a lot. Today my big pleasure is to manage my journalits team. During the week-end, I am the most difficult reader of Victoire visiting spots recommened by my journalists.

Victoire’s future?

There is a world between the today Victoire and the one of three years ago : the magazine slowly changed, like a tectonic plates sliding. Since September 2009, we’ve had new sections « comme chez moi », « city strip », « petite semaine ». I am worried to get stocked in something successfull. Victoire magazine has to be a beautiful object: a small world.

- I have the big luck to be born in Bruxels and not in a Texan corn field, it’s a real mental comfort. Brussels is a bit  hung-up and a bit complicated and nice for living. I love this town.  

A sweet : Les Tartes de Françoise, “the best ones are with soft white cheese and Speculos”, Av. de l’Hippodrome 75, 1050 Brussels. A market : le marché du Midi « really nice atmosphere ». A restaurant: Kif Kif, Square de Biarritz 1, 1050 Brussels - Phone : 02 644 18 10. Rue Lesbroussart : “the biggest concentration of restaurants with really trendy ones”. A walk : « the Ixelles art déco walk of the Guide du Routard » A bookshop : librairie de Rome, Rue Jean Stas 16/A, 1060 Brussels. A fourniture gift : Dépôt Design, Quai du Hainaut 19, 1080 Brussels, “nice dishes”. An art gallery : Young Gallery, Espace Art 22, 22, Rue Van Aa, 1050 Brussels and WIELS, Av. Van Volxemlaan 354, 1190 Brussels, “in a splendid building, for my cultural gym : it’s terribly difficult for me to appreciate contemporary art”. Belgium designers : rue Dansaert et rue des Chartreux.

Thanks a lot Anne! Victoire: in kiosk every week-end with the daily paper Le Soir.

In November presentations at Prescott College (Prescott, Arizona) and the Carnivores Conference 2009 (Defenders of Wildlife, Denver), Dr. Tony Povilitis, head of the Jaguar Habitat Campaign, urged conservationists to press hard for a recovery program for the jaguar under the US Fish & Wildlife Service. His talks, emphasizing related policy issues and advocacy, focused on the need for the Service to begin the program. Recovery programs  are normally required for wildlife, such as the jaguar, that are on the US endangered species list.  The jaguar was so listed over a dozen years ago, but still does have even a federal recovery plan.

Dr. Povilitis recently wrote a letter to the US Fish & Wildlife Service director, Mr. Sam Hamilton, requesting on meeting on jaguar policy. His office was kind enough to arrange a forthcoming discussion between Mr. Gary Frazer, Assistance Director for Endangered Species, and Dr. Povilitis. We’re hoping for positive results!

Here’s a Thanksgiving conundrum we face every year: after starving ourselves all day, we finally get to chow down on a huge family feast at about 4pm, finish at 7 (or 8 if you help clean up), and then…nothing. What are you to do for the rest of the evening?

Sure, there’s a little apathy-inducing tryptophan coma to overcome, but after all that food, sometimes you just want to get out and move around. Or hang out with some people you’re not related to (or married into). Only there’s nowhere to go and no one to go with—unless you end up calling people you used to hate in high school in the hopes that they too have been dragged home for the holidays.

So you end up stuck watching reruns with your family as everyone starts snoring around the TV. Until now.

Both locations of the Standard Hotel in Los Angeles are offering Thanksgiving activities so you can eat as much as you want and stay out as late as you want. They’ll even cook you dinner if you’ve left plans to the last minute, and both are charging a remarkably reasonable rate for their prix-fixe menus.

At the Standard Downtown LA there will be a rooftop party starting at 9:00pm with Oliver Chico (aka DJ Twist) headlining the musical entertainment. You can catch up with all the other hipsters and loft-dwellers who didn’t make it home for Turkey Day this year thanks to soaring airfares…or family dysfunction. That doesn’t mean you have to miss your turkey dinner, though. You can get a traditional Thanksgiving meal with all the fixings and a pumpkin pie dessert for $40 per person before heading to the roof to party. Planning to make an entire evening out of it? Stay over at the hotel with rates starting at $120.

The Standard Hollywood is also getting in on the turkey love with a three-course dinner going for a bargain $25…and they’ll even be serving it out by the pool. How L.A. Unfortunately, we haven’t heard about a similar party taking place here, but you can throw one back in your room later that night. Rates at this location start at $160. Via: EricRosen – HotelChatter

SocialiteTravel.com – Happy Thanksgiving =)

Japan’s capsule hotels are often a strange concept to foreigners, but the idea is an ingenious way to handle city crowding and space constraints. The first capsule hotel in Japan was built in 1979 in Osaka. The new 9h Capsule Hotel will open in December 2009 in the Japanese city of Kyoto.

Capsule hotels provide guests a private sleeping area and communal amenities. While the concept has previously been utilized as a cheaper hotel option, the 9h capsule hotel adds luxury and refinement. The bed capsule will be made up with 4-star hotel linens and provides a Panasonic system that uses light to naturally and comfortably wake you up. Fumie Shibata of Design Studio S is the mastermind behind the 9h capsule hotel.

‘A comfortable place to rest … 1 hour shower, sleep for 7 hours, have a one hour break / total 9h.’ Guests can spend up to 17 hours in a single stay – the price for one night is ¥4900 ($54,-). (dsgnwrld) Via: Jessica Marcel

Photo Gallery
References: dsgnwrld, designerblog.it

SocialiteTravel.com – Flashpack the World =)

I’m hoping to see a few of you at MacWorld 2010 where I’ll be speaking next year. I love San Fransisco so will be taking a little extra time out to hang out with my old friends, Amacker and Nina at the Lucky 13 bar on Castro. I also hope to catch up with all my other SF buddies, it’s always hard to fit everything in as there are so many people I love in the bay area!

If you’d like to attend you can click on the banner to the left to get a discount. Click on the Register button and then just use my personal priority code, ATAYLOR when you register.
Below are details about the talk I’ll be delivering;

Users Conference US964: Creative Video Workflow – From Storyboard to Completion – Feb. 12, 2010    3:00 PM – 4:15 PM

Angie Taylor will take you on a journey through a typical video project, showing the entire process including the creation of sketches, brainstorms and storyboards, audio production and clean up, editing, and producing the final project. Angie will also discuss how creative professionals can bring unity and clarity to complex creative projects. Aspects of automating time sheets, liaising with clients, auditing jobs and packaging final files for delivery will be explored within this session.

Anyone with personal or professional interests in creating digital videos and working with tools such as After Effects, Flash, Flow, CS4, Illustrator, Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro and Soundbooth, will benefit from this session.

If you are interested in a streamlined way to look at the digital video process including tips and tricks using various software tools that will help maximize the creative input and minimize the project complexities, then this session is for you!

Angie’s Shuffle Track of the Day: San Fransisco – Scott McKenzie – listen free on Last FM

Ok, so there’s this big thing opening soon in Vegas that rhymes with DittyDenter but if you’re Steve Wynnwhat are you really focusing on these days? Tearing down the front of your less-than-a-year-old hotel, Encore, and building an $80 million beach club.

The Encore Beach Club is set to open this summer and VegasCabbie snapped a pic of the construction that’s currently going on from the outside. Meanwhile, Two Way Hard Three has a pic of the inside. The tentative name of the club will be the Switch Beach Club because of its proximity to the Switch restaurant. But since Switch is a name that alludes to the culinary dinner theater that happens inside the restaurant, we don’t think that name will stick.

It’s also hard for us to even think about summer with the holidays on the horizon but if Wynn is building it, then we will come. If we don’t, there’s always CityCenter. (Burn.)  Via:  Julianna – VegasChatter

SocialiteTravel.com – VIP Nightlife & Travel

A hot spot is defined as  “an area, when left unattended will gradually take over.   If left unattended, the hot spot will grow and take over the whole room as well as making the house look awful. When you walk into a room, the hot spot is the first thing you see.  The rest of the family see this as a place to put things when they do not want to put them where they belong.” (Fly Lady)

In effect every flat surface in my house is a hot spot.  Things just get stuck places and that becomes their home.  Well this week I decided to tackle the most obvious hot spots in my house:

1.  My computer desk in the T.V. room:

Usually looks some version of this:

Here it is today:

2.  My pass through window to my kitchen was home to a basket full of junk:

But now it looks like this:

3.  The top of the TV cabinet had collected all manner of things.  I don’t have a picture of the before, but here is the after (please ignore the dust):

And since beginning this post, the pass through has acquired a baby monitor and the computer desk has grown a fully developed dirty mug.  The challenge isn’t getting them to this stage, it’s getting them to stay that way.

Science is something that you do. So rather than talk about science, we’re going to take questions from young scientists and take action! How do microwaves work? Why does metal spark inside a microwave? With Mary and Sierra, Brian demonstrates what’s going on inside that microwave oven.

Click to subscribe to our podcast!

Segment 2 Download Links
Use these links to download the movies to your computer. You can “control+click” to save the file.
Standard
DVD

The Fastest Changing City in the Northeast State of Pernambuco

Often called the ‘Venice of Brazil,’ (I would like to know who in the world applied this non-sequitor to any place in Brazil) the breathtaking city of Recife still retains some of its Old World charm amidst all of the modernity of its high growth posture of the last years. The city is known for its artistic and folkloric traditions, music, dance, sculptures and paintings and I took the trouble of carrying so many of these back so that I still have them to enjoy and they are really different from any for vacation rental line those beaches and are generally of a higher standard than those of Rio.

When you decide to take a break from the wonderful yet over stimulating downtown Recife experience, you must visit the leafy suburbs which lie north of the center and which are dotted with fantastic museums and parks. To the south there is the modern beachside district of Boa Viagem. Other beaches are conveniently located both north and south of the city. Recife also offers animated, exciting nightlife which one would expect from a city of nearly two million. Boa Viagem has many bars, discos and dance halls. Forró, a local music expression, is an experience not to be missed and can be seen at Boa Viagem square or at Pavao Leao street. Boa Viagem is a safe and relaxed place, largely frequented by tourists (except on weekends, when the beach is thronged by attractive, interesting locals). The liveliest district is the Recife Island at the old town where you are guaranteed to have a good time. For those bar connoisseurs, definitely take a visit Rua do Apolo and its unique array of bars. Recife also offers excellent opportunities for shopping. From traditional handicrafts to modern conveniences, visitors can buy all of these and more at the many markets and malls around the city. The Casa de Cultura, a former prison that now houses handicraft and souvenir shops, is as enticing as it’s origin is bizarre.

If Recife has left you with remaining energy, put your feet to good use and take a walking tour of the city’s ancient monuments. There is no better way to see them. I met a friend on the beach who invited me up to his family home were they lavished me in all kinds of northeastern recipes, literally waved palm fronds over me while I was eating, were super anxious for me to try out every last kind of alcoholic beverage native to the area, and still write to me these many years later. Their sense of humor is not to be beat.

Contact Rent in Rio today for Rio de Janeiro’s Highest Quality Apartments, Flats, Penthouses, and Hotels.

THE OLD HEDON AFC sports hut on the corner of Draper’s Lane playing fields has lain derelict for years now.

It is an eyesore. Despite a police notice it has become a playground in ways that are totally different from its original purpose.

This article constitutes a simple request to the authorities responsible for the hut and the land it is on: What is planned for this building? Is it eventually going to be refurbished and brought into community use – or is it going to be properly demolished?

The picture shows the front and rear views of the building.  The map below shows the location of the hut as reported on the FixMyStreet neighbourhood reporting website.

Location of hut - purple flag

The new Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel is a twenty-four acre expansion project to the current iconic Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. It will comprise thirty-two bungalows and five towers including residential complexes. Conceived by Hard Rock founder and owner Peter Morton, the new hotel’s design and execution will be completed by Oppenheim in association with RTKL, Architect of Record.

The new Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel will be organized around the existing hotel and casino, and will provide unique architectural design to serve both function and fantasy in Sin City.  Via: Marissa Liu – HotHotelReviews

References: oppenoffice, designscene.net

SocialiteTravel.com – VIP Nightlife & Travel Portal

Bistro Niko is a true neighborhood restaurant where we welcome you warmly and serve satisfying foods that change with the seasons and define regional, comfort French cuisine . It is a casual bistro to enjoy the company of friends and family and relish one of the richest culinary heritages in the world, striking the balance between sophistication and comfort. I definitely give this place the thumbs up Bon appétit!

[MUSIC SWAG AND LIFE]

~TB

Image depicting various paths described in the Results section:

Results:
We observed a limited number of popular paths that people used. The most common path is one where people cut through the Campanile through the stairs then down and out by stage right. Similarly, many people enter the Campanile through stage right and go up the stairs to exit. Additionally, we observed more people enter the seats from the top of the Campanile than those who come from the bottom. There seems to be no specified popular path when leaving the top way, except the most linear path from where they sat and the top.

We cannot specify an unused path, but we did observe people favoring to sit in the green area marked in the above map. Contrastingly, not as many people sat in the blue area. Very few people sat on the very first step and aside from photography or film purposes; rarely did anyone go up to the actual waterfall pool area. There was no apparent distinction between individuals and groups in selecting a spot to sit down at – personal space dictated that.

Use this information to identify what may be the best hot-spots for your design concept. Where might you put the marker(s) and how do you expect people to navigate your installation?

If we consider the idea that a person will need to look at the stairs or water to see the images, then we are going to need to use the distinct terrain of the campanile as a marker or have marker on them. A person would also have to stand at an optimal spot that will most likely be in the walkway, which could block traffic. Also standing for long periods of time strains the body so most people would not want to stand and the optimal spot would need to have a designated chair. We also considered the idea that a person could sit down in a section (there will still be an optimal spot) then look across to the opposite section and play that way. This is good because they don’t have to stand or be in the way of traffic. However if they want to look at the side they are sitting on they have to get up and move which could become tiresome.  The last idea we discussed was that we have RFID tags around he sitting area and a camera on the spiral. When a person sat down to play near a RFID tag their phone would recognize it and show them a live video feed of the campanile based on there position and superimpose the images onto that feed. This is good because no matter where you are you can get a nice view of the space. The problem with this one is that the video feeds quality may not be very good, more than one camera may be needed, and the cameras would need to be high so that they are safe and secure which would mean the view changes the feel of the game.

Since people go to the campanile to relax outdoors it is important to make sure that our experience promotes relaxation as much as possible so standing and moving around don’t fit into that ideal. Therefore we wish people using our space to be able to sit at all times and not be forced into a crowded area (some amount of freedom to choose). The best spot will probably be the bottom step since it is relatively unused and has the best view of the water.

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the chosen base for nearly 75% of all fairs and conventions held in the country. It is known throughout the country as the “business capital” and although this is technically a well-deserved title, it does not reveal all of the wonders that this great metropolis has to offer. São Paulo is known for its restaurants, intense nightlife, and busy artistic calendar. From the bar on the corner to the most refined restaurant in the Jardins districts, from the snack served over the counter to the famous pastas in Italian cantinas, from the hot dog to the most varied international menus – culinary options in São Paulo are varied, unbiased and completely cosmopolitan. As a starting point for your visit to São Paulo, there’s no place better than Paulista Avenue, one of the city’s famous landmarks. Home to nearly 30% of the São Paulo financial centre, it is one of the districts most loved by its residents. When it comes to entertainment and art, the city of São Paulo never fails to impress. It has nearly 300 cinemas, more than 100 theatres, a dozen cultural centers and 70 museums, and many diverse historical buildings. There are also theme parks, countless leisure areas, and two large stadiums. For those tourists who bring their need for speed on vacation, São Paulo also has the Interlagos Speedway, home of the city’s Formula 1 Grand Prix. In a city this size, shopping is not only part of the itinerary, but also one of the main attractions. With its countless shopping malls, streets with specialized commerce and arts and crafts fairs, the city guarantees options to suit every taste.

by JetSetCD – Jaunted

We’re still adding to our list of the world’s most dangerous airports. Know a stomach dropping, palm sweat inducing airport we should check out? Send it along.

The French island of Saint Barthélemy in the Caribbean might be the winter playground of the rich and famous, but unless you arrive via private yacht or boat charter, all the gobs of money in the world can’t save you from enduring the white-knuckled landing on the short airstrip at St. Barth’s Gustaf III/St. Jean Airport (SBH).

The concrete runway begins at the base of slight hill, and goes for only 2,100 feet before landing right on St. Jean’s beach and the harbor of the island’s second largest town. Sunbathers can totally lie out right next to the sand strip at the end of the runway, this it’s a hugely popular plane spotting destination for those who enjoy small, prop planes. You see, because of the itty-bitty airport and runway size, major flights must land at the neighboring island of St. Maarten, where they have a big, modern airport. From there, the Barths-bound folks either jump aboard a ferry or hop a WINAIR, Air Caraïbes, and St-Barth Commuter flight in planes usually holding twenty or less passengers.

An airplane crashes, after the jump.

And since St. Barth is quite the hotspot from the end of November through the beginning of March, you can imagine how many small planes buzz over the tops of the houses and cars like mosquitos, on their steep approach to SBH. Although it is a dangerous airport, there have been few accidents. The video above shows the most recent: a Piper Aztec ran out of runway and crashed on the beach this last May, amazingly with no injuries.

We think we’ll take the ferry, thanks.

SocialiteTravel.com – A Travel Portal for Jet Setters!

From the iPhone to the dongle, mobile communications are now more integral to everyday life than ever before. So just what does the word mobile mean in the modern world?

In the last half decade the mobile phone’s development and convergence has liberated many people’s lives far further than just a telecommunications device. The low cost calling plans and 3G web-enabled handsets are now allowing people who previously could not afford PCs or laptops, access to the internet, social networking, e-mail and SMS. This is also a two-way street as it also allows companies that would not have had access to certain groups of consumers to use the mobile medium to develop one to one relationships with their customers and not just use traditional forms of interaction.

As an example I recently ordered a pizza from Papa Johns using just my 3G phone via their web-site. It was an easy and efficient experience from start to finish and I was directed via my postcode to the nearest store, browsed their menu, made my choices and chose a method of payment. I then had an almost instant email confirming my order had been processed, another to say the store had confirmed receipt and was actually making it up, and then a final SMS text to say the pizza was on its way and about to be delivered. All this took a matter of minutes and was 25% cheaper than going into the store, making my order and bringing it home myself. Since then I have had an occasional text alerting me of a special offer, something that’s easy to turn off via a single texting of “STOP” in reply. I’m not complaining as it was my choice to receive the texts in the first place and it got me a great 2 for 1 offer during my last Left 4 Dead zombie-fest with a lounge full of hungry fellow survivors!

Because of the now acceptable speeds of mobile internet, I made a decision a year ago to get rid of my landline and go 100% mobile internet via a 3G dongle. Because I write for two magazines and I’m an Online Editor, I’m continually sending in copy, large high-resolution images and sometimes video. At first I thought I may have ‘issues’, and yes there have been times where I have been half way through uploading to my publishers server and lost my signal, but this has lead me to just change my working practice. I now split my work to send smaller multiple files than one or two large ones, is not a problem just a change in mind-set to accommodate the limitations of the technology.

Another thing I now utilise where available is Wi-Fi hotspots. I’ve been pleasantly surprised that wherever I am in the world, I’ve usually found a network to log onto, offering me a good fast Internet connection. Yes some are ‘pay by the usage’ and require you to register such as BT Open Zone, but for limited use, say a day or two working away from home this is a good option. I mapped my local area using the BT web site and there are 3 Open Zone hotspots within walking distance of my house, and more interestingly 13 in a 10-mile radius. Add to this the private Wi-Fi networks offered by independent cafés, hotels and businesses, and I can almost walk the 5 miles from my house to Solihull with my iPod touch or iPhone, and play connect the dots with the networks. I recently also visited New York and did a search prior to going and was amazed how many thousand Wi-Fi hot spots the whole city has. It almost covers the whole map and proves that it is now possible to get wireless internet access anywhere in the city. The following picture shows each network as a red triangle, zoom in to see how many there are per block!

I am truly now ‘Mobile’, and have never looked back. I can take my work anywhere with me and not only submit and edit articles on the go, but have instant access to my e-mails, forums and colleagues by IM. My phone is fine for most applications in hurry or basic editing, but as ever not for anything where lots of text inputting is required. My iPhone has become the device of choice when travelling. Allowing me internet, email and so much variety in applications that it’s sometimes hard to keep up. Again this device is limited to how quickly and easily text can be inputted and the need for 3G or Wi-Fi access.

So where do we go from here? Users needs are very different, and that’s why the i-phone has become such a global success. By allowing the user to tailor the functionality and additional uses the phone has, Apple have taken the convergence model to another level offering seemingly limitless uses for the phone. Other manufacturers have followed suit and although we are far from a universal OS, there are so many applications that give the same functionality and access to say Twitter or Facebook for example, that it really doesn’t matter anymore. What’s important here is that our mobile technology continues to make life easier, not just to communicate with each other, but become a member of a truly global community.

Peter Gray

for more news and reviews get your free subscription of Phonica Magazine UK online here!

Twitter has made it a billion times easier for fans to stalk their favorite celebs, for airlines and brands to track their customers, and now, with the new Twitter Lists feature, it’s super simple to follow frequent travelers around the globe. For those of you not yet on Twitter, we advise you not to tune out yet, because one day you will probably have to know about it for one reason or another.

Back to Lists—introduced during these first few days of November, the function is the first big update on Twitter in a long time. It allowed members to gather those they follow into neat and tidy lists based on any identifying characteristic, like mommy bloggers, celebrities, personal friends and—yes—travelers. In the course of these first few days of List generation, we’ve found ourselves included in over 100 lists and counting, keeping company with some of Twitter’s best travel authorities and most frequent flying.

To help you on your List discovery, we’ve gathered up a few of our favorite travel-centric ones. Lo and behold, our Five Favorite Twitter Travel Lists RIght Now…

· @EverywhereTrip/Travel
Compiled by Gary Arndt, otherwise known as “EverywhereTrip” on Twitter owing to the fact that he’s perpetually traveling around the world, this list is also one of the top-ranked on Twitter right now. It’s not a massively large list as it follows only 279, but that just means that it’s well-curated and an easy jumping-off point for getting into travel lists.

· @travelpod/list
This is a 500-er, meaning that Travelpod has chosen to feature 500 of the top Twitter travelers in their sizable list, giving you a taste of everyone that’s out there in the world of virtual vagabonding.

· @eurapart/travel-500
Here’s yet another 500-er that we’ve found to have quite a good cross section of travel twitters. From MSN Travel to folks chewing the fat over Amazing Race, it’s a good variety. Of course you’ll find us all warm and snug in there as well.

· @jessicadebra/travel-tweets
Okay, the last 500 list, we promise. This one comes from a regular old traveler, not a travel website or other media outlet. We love lists like these because the intel comes from those on the ground, actually out there hopping on trains and grabbing the planes.

· @IngridaLM/travelers
At 388-strong, this travel list sure doubles up on some folks from the previous lists we’ve mentioned, but when it comes to reading updates from the road and travel tips, our theory is the more the merrier.  by JetSetCD – Jaunted

SocialiteTravel.com – For Jet Setters, By Jet Setters!

This beautiful city is an entrance to the Valeria River and located on the south bank on a 400 foot hill overlooking the Amazon. Boca de Valeria, literally the “mouth” of the Valeria River, is a colorful Caboclo (a word meaning person of mixed Brazilian Indian and European ancestry) village consisting of a few wooden houses and an abundance of local wildlife, including monkeys, birds and several varieties of Amazon type plants. If you are visiting Boca de Valeria as a stop on your cruise itinerary, you will have the unique experience of having canoes, manned by the local inhabitants, greet you in the River’s waters. Since it is not possible to go ashore, your ship’s tender (a small boat used to service a larger ship) will take you as close as possible, where you can observe the very different life of an Amazonian up close and barter for local crafts (most of them worthwhile). If you have ever played the computer game “Amazon Trail” you have a (virtual) idea of what this experience is like! Be prepared to feel less like a tourist and more like a good-intentioned conquistador. Truly another world, this tiny Indian village is hidden within jungle lakelands where the screeches of colorful parrots fill the air and will drown out all of the anxieties that you left at home. All around you the trees stand waist high in an awesome display of what we will probably lose to global warming.

DO WE USE RED ENOUGH? REMEMBER WHEN EVERYTHING WAS RED? Course that was when you bought your flies at a hardware store: the Royal Coachman, Red tail Yellow Woolly Worm, the Red tail Joe’s Hopper. Red was so there on spoons, lures, eggs, flies…..

Bloody Mary Nymph (SwittersB)

I don’t know about you, but I love going to hotel bars!  They are upscale, classy, and in this case….trendy. Today, there are many Hip Hotels that are stepping up their game when it comes to cool bars. Jet Setters who love traveling around the world make it a point to book hotels that have a trendy little bar scene within the hotel….it’s a requirement.  It’s about the Travel, and of course the Party!

Here are some cool hotel companies that have stepped up, and continue to re-create the hotel bar trend. And being a true Jet Setter, this is a must for hotel bar hopping!

Desire Hotels – This boutique hotel company is headquartered in Miami. They have 10 properties around the country. Known for top-notch terrace lounges, restaurants, and rooftop bars.

Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants – Always a F&B innovator, the San Francisco-based Kimpton operates more than 50 restaurants, and nearly 50 hotels in North America. Check out their newest venture; NIOS. An American restaurant and wine bar located right across from the Muse New York in the Big Apple.

NYLO Hotels – Not as big as the other hotel companies, NYLO owns three properties. NYLO recently opened the NYLO Dallas/Las Colinas that offers a sleek Texan vibe (whatever that means). You know the deal, don’t mess with Texas!

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide – One of my favorite and newest brands that fill up the 966 hotel portfolio is the Aloft Hotels. Each property features the w xyz bar, where signature cocktails, house-made infused spirits and evening events make the bar a hot spot. Happy Hour…..foget about it!  Aloft Hotels is definitley on my top list for cool hotels with the trendiest bar scene.

Wyndham Worldwide – This massive hotel company offers 7,024 hotels and 11 hotel brands around the world! I’m like DAMN……there is no excuse to not hotel bar hop with them right! I would be done after my third location =).

So next time you are looking to plan a global bar hopping trip, look to these cool hotels. Happy Hotel Bar Hopping =)

Via: Arnel

SocialiteTravel.com – VIP Nightlife & Travel

www.citycenter.com

Scheduled to open this December, the CityCenter has been in the news all year. But what is it, and where will it be located?  Inquiring minds want to know right!  Well here is a little something for you to digest and get excited about.

The CityCenter sits on 67 acres between the Bellagio and Monte Carlo. Who knows where they found this space, but they are definitley using every bit of it. What we know is that the project is a joint venture between MGM Mirage and Infinity World Developement Corp., a subsidiary of Dubai World….go figure right.

There are three hotels: Vdara, Mandarin Oriental, and Aria.

Vdara (www.vdara.com) will be the first hotel to open on December 1. 1500 rooms with a large spa at 18,000 square feet with 11 treatment rooms!  Vdara will be signed as a non-gaming condo-hotel, which means all rooms will have kitchens. Rates will range from $159-$2000, not too shabby.

Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas (www.mandarinoriental.com/lasvegas) will open on December 4. This will be the brands first move to the Las Vegas market, and will be considered an ultra-luxe property. It will be a non-gaming hotel with 392 guest rooms and 227 residences with the lobby sitting on the 23rd floor (47 stories in all). Opening rates are running $545 per night.

Aria (www.arialasvegas) will be opening on December 16. This mega hotel resort will have more than 4,000 rooms and a huge casino. Aria will be considred the core of CityCenter.  Cirque du Soleil will have a musical production based on Elvis Presley’s life at the resort. Expect the technology at Aria to be nothing but the best. The hotel will also have a two-level spa with 62…..yes 62 treatment rooms!

Shopping at the CityCenter will have high-end brands such as Luis Vuitton, Hermes, Prada, Christian Dior and Bulgari. The retail complex Crystals will have more than 500,000 square feet of shopping and dining venues.

So that’s your little sneak peek into the Las Vegas CityCenter. To find out more, just come out to Vegas in December and experience it yourself, it should be swell!

[Photo: Inhabitat.com]

SocialiteTravel.com – VIP Nightlife & Travel

Just when you think your eyes can’t get any wider, you step on board.  Welcome to the Norwegiean Epic!

Looking for a new, cool, hip cruise line that can handle your nightlife cravings? Well look no further!  Let me introduce you to  the Norwegian Epic,  the next level of Freestyle Cruising with unparalleled nightlife and entertainment.

All I can say is that the nightlife aboard the ship will be “epic”. Check out Ice Bar.  At 17 degress fahrenheit, it’s the hottest bar on the ship. A faux fur coat will keep you warm in the only true ice bar at sea……AWESOME!  Oh, the vodka helps, too.  The Norwegian Epic will have 19 bars, nightclubs and lounges, including the Ibiza-style Spice H20 and French Riviera-chic Posh Beach Club.

Sounds exciting right!  Well, the Norwegian Epic does not set sail until Summer 2010, and will be offering cruises out of Miami to the Eastern and Western Caribbean, but guess what? You can still book your cruise today =)

SocialiteTravel.com – For Jet Setters, By Jet Setters!