Beyond the Beach in Miami...

... the well known phrase "a picture says more than 1,000 words" is true and we can say that pictures can tell us a story, a problem, a fact... It is possible express feeling and messages using photos to illustrate the ideas. In the photostory "Beyond the Beach in Miami" the narrator and photographer Elizabeth Larsen talks and shows about natural beauties, places to visit, restaurants, culture and traditions in Miami, reinforcing that Miami is more than beach...

Larsen's pictures invite us to "step off the sand path" and discover what this city has to offer...

How Can Hotel Rewards Help Fund a Trip?

In a moment of a troubled economy, everyone look for reducing their expenses and because of that many families are not going to travel during this coming holiday season or at least are planning to go somewhere closer. On the oder hand, the tourism company count on the holiday season to warm up their business. However, many hotels are offering rewards programs to help their customers with their trip funds. According to the article "How Can Hotel Rewards Help Fund a Trip?" this market strategy is very efficient and can bring good results for the hotels and for the customers.

So, if you are planning to get way in this holiday season, a good tip to save money during your trip is using rewards programs. It is also helpful when you book your flight tickets....

Does the 'Real' Ireland Still Exist?

Talking about Travel, this week we decided to look for article related to tourism in Ireland... Why Ireland? Well, no special reason... We just picked a place on the world map...

So, for my new mission on Travel Group, I read "Does the 'Real' Irealnd Still Exist?" written by Dan Barry.

In this article, Barry talks about the changes that have been happen in Ireland in the past few years, specially after the European Union; and he asks if it is still possible to find the traditional Irish culture in Ireland... That is a pretty intrigue question that got my attention...

Barry talks about the good things that we can do and see in some towns in the west side of Ireland. How enjoyable is to spend his morning watching the “same white-bearded fisherman(...)park his old blake bicycle by the pier, row a skiff to his rusty-green vessel, and disappear into the bay” ... Or the pleasure of sometimes seeing the “beer truck pull up to Connolly's” in the afternoon.

However, Barry points that many things have been changing in the Irish routine. One of the most important facts that has been modifying the traditional Irish culture is the influence of other cultures on it. As he says “the real change, though, is in Gort’s new and sizable Brazilian community, attracted in part by job opportunities at a local meat-processing plant.” According to Barry, the Brazilian culture has been impacted in the area significantly; in a way that pubs play Brazilian musics and there are grocery stores specialized in Brazilian foods.

Even though, Barry shows some of the negative changes in the Irish tradition, he also talks about how interesting those “external” influences are. How the Irish people has been adjusting and integrating the new, the different in their routine.

I really liked the way he presented this topic because at the same time he critics some of the changes that have been happening in the Ireland, he also talks about its benefits. I believe that we are able to find those kinds of changes and cultural influence in many countries and regions in the world. Like in the U.S., we can find neighborhoods that carry pieces of the globe as China Town, Little Italy and others... or we can have Indian, Mexican, Japanese, Colombian, Vietnamese and many others kinds of food whenever we want... without lose our identity.

What is Eco-tourism?

Well, first of all I would like to explain that Jeongyeon, Han and I have a important mission for Topic in Media Class, we have to write about TRAVEL for our final assignment. As a first step in our research we have to read an article about one of the subjects related to TRAVEL... and we chose to talk about ECO-TOURISM.

So, to introduce this subject there are no better article than the one that explains "What is Eco-tourism?", presented on CNN.com on July 1, 2008... As articles related to TRAVEL are not time dependent, it is not necessery to read some thing new .... or break news!!!

Let's move on to the article...

In this article, Tricia Barnett, chief executive of Tourism Concern, a UK charity that campaigns against exploitation in tourism, says eco-tourism is only a marketing strategy and that there is many evidences to show that eco-tourism, “like all forms of tourism, is not necessarily sustainable.” She also states that eco-tourism can be more abusive because it incentives people to to go to areas where indigenous live.

According to Barnett, it is possible to plan a vacation and be ecologically correct. However, it is very important to search for information about the area, consider and respect the environment and the local eco-system. A new form of eco-tourism has been changing its conception... the Community Tourism as it is known is a sustainable form what involves the considerations about the economy and social structure of the area. This news form of tourism also provides a real contact with the nature and with the people who live in the area.

I really like this article... I agree with the purposes presented by Tricia Barnett and I think that a sustainable eco-tourism should be focus not only on the natural aspects of the area, but also in the people who are part of the system and those ones who use the natural resources to live in equilibrium and harmony.

Obama leads in 5 key states, McCain in 2...

First of all, this article grabbed my attention because the U.S. presidential campaing is the hot topic in the country right now. Second of all, we just watched a video that talks about the U.S. Election System... So when I saw the article saying that "Obama leads in 5 key states, McCain in 2" I immediately wantend to know which states they are leading and the importance of those states in the U.S. Election.

According to a series Reuters/Zogby polls realesed today, a week before the presidential election, the Democratic senator is leading over McCain in Virginia, North Carolina, Missouri, Ohio and Nevada. While McCain had a solid 10-point lead in West Virginia and a 6-point edge in Indiana. However, the canditades were tided in Florida, the lasgest of the battlegrounds with 27 electoral votes and the state that decided the disputed 2000 election.

Who will win the U.S. presidential election? Do you have a bet???

Check out the Election 08 - Political Dashboard and make your bet...

MAVERICK... find out its origin!

The term "maverick" has been used by the Republican candidates McCain and Palin with frequency during the presidential campaign, but in Texas a REAL Maverick named Terralita has been claiming that the term comes from her great-grandfather, cattle rancher Samuel Augustus Maverick. In her interview - "These Texas Mavericks Are For Obama" - to ABC News, Terralita blames the cowboys who worked for her great-grandfather, who were supposed to brand the cattle and because their “drunkenness” did not do it. And since then, “maverick” came to mean unbranded, and from that, an expression for describe someone who stays apart from the crowd.

Terralita, a flaming liberal in Texas, also says that “[McCain] cannot be a maverick in upper case or lower case because he's not related to [her] and he's not independent of his voting record or of the Republican Party".

So if you were wondering ... what does the term “maverick” mean? Now, you now!
And you also know that the real MAVERICK isn't happy because the two Republicans are using her name as a slogan for their presidential campaign...

Guns is BACK!!!!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

Who never screamed because Alx Rose????

Who doesn't know Guns N'Roses????

So prepar yourself because they are back...
YEAP!!! "After years of delay, Guns N'Roses is releasing 'Chinese Democracy' " on Nov. 23. This is the first album with new songs since 1991, when "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II" were released. The new album has 14-track, including the song "If the World", which is part of the soundtrach to the movie "Body of Lies".

I have to confess that I used to love Guns N'Roses... Actually, I was too young when I started to listen their songs... To be honest, my older sister is responsable for that... She is one of those girls who screamed because Alx Rose. So while she was dreaming about him, I was listening the songs with her... I still hear some of their song and my favorite music is... [click here to figure it out].