Journeys - Fall 2013

FALL ­ 2013

CRD Travel ServicesJourneys

Welcome to our fall edition. Fall is a great time totravel. This edition will hopefully fire up those

trip planning ideas. Fall and travel just seem to gotogether. Less crowds and good weather await you.To start you thinking about places to visit, we presentinformation about one of the world's great festivals ­Oktoberfest and the seemingly forgotten Bucharest.One trip we have never been asked to assist with (notthat we would not want to) is a visit to cities thatshare a name in common. Well, we decided to havesome fun and get you thinking about cities that sharethe same name by giving you a couple of pairs ofcities with the same name.We constantly look to balance informative content withcontent to inspire your wanderlust.We are available torefine your ideas or to provide travel ideas that willuniquely fit you.Your opinions about how we are doing are welcomed.If you have a suggestion about what we should bedoing more or less of something, let us know.Thanks for all your support.Paul WilsonMANAGING DIRECTOR

All About UsWriteCRD Travel Services6261­2100 Bloor St. W.Toronto, ON M6S [email protected] we doWe create handcrafted travelexperiences for individuals aswell as groups. We help in theplanning and organizing of aunique travel experiencetailored to meet your specificinterests and needs.We also provide consultingservices to the travel industry.To inquire about travelVisit:Email:Call:

Consulting queriesVisit:Email:Call:

www.crdtravel.com/[email protected] x2029am ­ 5pm ET, Mon ­ Fri

www.crdtravel.com/[email protected] x203

Welcome to Journeys

Journeys is owned and produced by CRDTravel Services and made available to friends,fans and travel enthusiasts. Information iscorrect at the time of writing, but pleaseconfirm before making travel plans based onthis information. All opinions expressed areour own. We do accept nor do we solicit anypayment for expressing any opinion.

12

OKTOBERFESTOktoberfest is one of theworld's great festivalsand we are constantlysurprised by the numberof people who have neverbeen.You will need to movequickly to make thisyear's event, but there isalways next year.

COMMON NAMESRecently there was astory about two travellerswho thought they wereon their way SydneyAustralia only to find thatthey arrived at Sydney,Canada a 10,695mile/17,210 km oops!Hope this never happensto you, unless you areinspired after reading thisstory.

BUCHARESTWondering how Bucharestrelates to fall?Consider the following:Bucharest is in Romania;Transylvania is in Romania,Transylvania is the reputedhome of Dracula, Dracula isassociated with Halloween,Halloween occurs in thefall!

contents

CRD TRAVEL SERVICES | 3

64 12

Oktoberfest is a 16­day festival celebrating beerheld annually in Munich, and is the world'slargest fair, with more than 6 million people fromaround the world attending every year.This year's fair is being held from September21st to October 3rd. Yes there are Oktoberfest'selsewhere, but they all are a derivative of thisone.One misconception about Oktoberfest is that it isall about beer – to be honest it's only 95% aboutbeer. This beer is specifically brewed for thisfestival and as most people know can only bebrewed by a select few breweries. If you wantedto you could even dring wine rather than beer atthe Kufflers' tent.Getting something to eat is never a problem withtraditional foods such as; Hendl (chicken),Schweinebraten (roast pork), Schweinshaxe(grilled ham hock), Steckerlfisch (grilled fish ona stick), are all widely available.

oktoberfestIN 1810, CROWN PRINCE LUDWIG, LATER TO BECOME KING LUDWIG I, WAS MARRIED TO PRINCESS THERESE OF SAXE­HILDBURGHAUSEN ANDTHE CITIZENS OF MÜNCHEN WERE INVITED TO CELEBRATE THE HAPPY ROYAL EVENT. THIS WAS THE START OF AN ANNUAL EVENT WE KNOW ASOKTOBERFEST.

TIP: Come to Oktoberfestto enjoy the beer festival (itshould be on your “bucketlist”) and come to Munichanother time to enjoy agreat city – just don't tryboth things at the sametime.

4 | JOURNEYS ­ FALL 2013

There are activities other than beer drinking.There are great carnival type rides (notsuggested after an afternoon and/or eveningof beer drinking)and a wide variety ofcarnival type games.The fair's opening ceremonies are worthattending. At noon sharp, the mayor ofMunich taps the first keg of Oktoberfest beerwith the traditional cry "O`zapft is!" ("It istapped!"), followed by a 12 gun salute. Afterthat, all Oktoberfest beer halls are allowedto tap their beer kegs.One thing people who have attended otherOktoberfest celebrations elsewhere maynotice missing is there is no dancing. Surethere is music, the occasional chant to goalong with some singing, but there is nodancing.To encourage family attendance, each of thetwo Tuesday afternoons of the Oktoberfestare designated Familiennachmittagen (from12:00 to 6:00 p.m.) with special prices forpublic transportation and entry.Beer, as previously said, sold at Oktoberfestis unique. It can only be brewed by one ofthe following breweries: Augustiner; HackerPschorr; Hofbräu; Löwenbräu; Paulaner andSpaten. The prices for a "Maß" (one litre)will be between €9.40 and €9.85 in 2013.

CRD TRAVEL SERVICES | 5

Granada, SpainWhen you visit Granada there are acouple of must do's. Make sure you setaside enough time (most of a day isabout right) to see the Alhambra palace.You do want to wander through what weconsider to be one of the gems ofGranada, the Albayzín neighbourhood.Taking time to visit Sacromonte will setyou apart from the more causal visitor toGranada. Essential to appreciatingGranada is the appreciation for theirtapas.The province of Granada (of whichGranada is a city in) has a great law thatevery bar, café or restaurant is requiredto give customers a free Tapa with thepurchase of a beverage. The secret ofcourse is to know where the great tapasare. We have provided five of our currentfavourites. Of course one of the joys oftravel to Granada is the discovery newones.If you have never been to Granada, youshould go and if you have been, then youknow you should return for at least thetapas.

Granada, NicaraguaIf you ask most people about GranadaNicaragua a blank stare will be yourresponse – and that is too bad.Granada is also known as La GranSultana, in reflection of its Moorish andAndalusian appearance. Granada is theoldest colonial city in Nicaragua. It wasnamed by Hernández de Córdoba afterthe Spanish city of Granada in 1524.Most of Granada's streets are narrow, asthe city evolved centuries before theadvent of motorized vehicles. Therefore,today, many streets allow only one­waytraffic.A massive restoration project is underway in Granada. Funded by both publicand private interests it is rebuilding thisfine city to its original glory. Granada is agreat base to explore Masaya (a center ofart and culture), the Los Pueblos Blancosand Volcán Mombacho, or even Managua(capital city of Nicaragua), which is justan hour away.

Granada, Spain & Granada, Nicaragua

twin citiesTHE CONCEPT OF TWINING CITIES IS FAMILIAR TO MOST OF US, BUT WE THINK IT IS MORE INTERESTING WHEN TWO (OR MORE) CITIES SHARE THESAME NAME. THE FOLLOWING ARE SOME OF OUR FAVOURITES. (YES, BEFORE YOU WRITE, WE DO KNOW THERE ARE MANY OTHERS – WE JUST THINKWE CHOSE THE MORE INTERESTING ONES)

5 Great Tapas Bars in GranadaPoë ­ Calle Verónica de la Magdelena, 40 Bodegas Castaneda ­ Almireceros, 1­3Mariano el Pescador ­ Calle Doctor Fleming, 8 Los Diamantes ­ Calle Navas, 28Mariscal Delicatessen ­ Avenida de la Constitucion, 36

6 | JOURNEYS ­ FALL 2013

K

CB

F

I

A

PhotosA.B.C.D., E.F.G.H.I.J.K.

Alhambra, Granda ESDoors of Alhambra, Granada ESCathedral, Granada ESTapas, Granada ESA "coche", Granada NIColonial houses, Granada NICentral Park, Granada ESIglesia de la Merced, Grranada NIPraque Central, Granada NIHotel Dario, Granada, NI

D

E

J

HG

Hermitage, St. Petersburg RU8 | JOURNEYS ­ FALL 2013

Saint Petersburg, RussiaSaint Petersburg should be on everyone'sgreat cities list. Peter the Great's creationcost the lives of thousands of workerswho made the Baltic Sea deltainhabitable 300 years ago.Nearly everyone who visits SaintPetersburg visits the Hermitage andWinter Palace. The Winter Palace wouldbe a museum itself even if it didn't holdthe Hermitage Museum, one of theworld's largest and most valuablecollections of fine art. The mistake manypeople make is trying to see it tooquickly. Spending a day here is stronglyrecommend. Also, strongly recommendedis the Russky Muzei (Russian Museum). Ithouses 32,000 pieces of artworks fromthe 12th to the 20th century giving thevisitor an unsurpassed survey of Russianart.Having not being there in the winter wecannot vouch for this, but people whovisit St. Petersburg in the fall/winter raveabout it (just make sure to pack warmclothes).

St. Petersburg, FloridaSt. Petersburg was conceived and built acentury ago primarily for tourists andwinter residents. It has one of the mostpicturesque and pleasant downtown ofany city in Florida. When you think of St.Petersburg, Florida, you probably don'tthink of art, but maybe you should.The Salvador Dali Museum houses thelargest collection outside Europe of theworks of the artist Salvador Dalí. TheMuseum of Fine Arts contributes anexcellent collection of European,American, pre­Columbian, and FarEastern art, with works by artists such asFragonard, Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, andGauguin.Art is not the only claim to fame St.Petersburg has. It is said that the greatgame of shuffleboard was born here.While this fact can be debated there islittle doubt that St. Petersburg is theepicentre of all things shuffleboard.

Saint Petersburg, Russia & St. Petersburg, Florida USA

CRD TRAVEL SERVICES | 9

5 Facts About Shuffleboard*∙ shuffleboard court is 39 feet long by 6 feet

wide∙ shuffleboard discs are 6 inches in

diameter and weigh about 15 oz∙ has been played for over 500 years∙ this year's championship is the 32nd world

championship∙ a international hall of fame located in

Clearwater, FL* this is important because the world

championship is in St. Petersburg in Oct.

Santiago (de Compostela), Spain

Santiago (de Compostela), Spain & Santiago (de Chile), Chile & Santiago (de los Cab

Santiago (de Chile), Chile

YES, WE CHEATED A LITTLE BIT ON THIS ONE, BUT THE OPPORTUNITY TOO INCLUDE FOUR SIGNIFICANT CITIES WAS TO GOOD TO PASS UP.

Many people (reportedly over 200,000 ayear) visit this city as the conclusion of thepilgrimage “The Way of St. James”. Theyhave been doing this since medieval times.Today, in addition to those undertaking areligious pilgrimage, many more simply wantto walk the route for their own reasons.Walking is how most people choose tocomplete the route, a few ride a bicycle andsome choose to ride a horse or donkey.Visiting Santiago de Compostela, no matterif you walk here or not, is worth doing. Itscathedral and well preserved old town arewell worth the visit.

This is a city of great contrasts, much of thetime this city is gray and dirty, but onoccasions it clears and you can view themajestic mountains that surround the city.Its arts and culture does not overwhelm atfirst glance, unlike it neighbour BuenosAires, but if you look carefully you will berewarded.Too often Santiago is looked upon as anarrival and departure point on the way to themore “interesting” parts of Chile. You oweyourself to make Santiago more than a stepalong the way to somewhere else.

10 | JOURNEYS ­ FALL 2013

Santiago (de los Caballeros), DominicanRepublic

Santiago is Cuba's 2nd largest city and hometo Castillo de San Pedro de la Roca. Thisfortress was initially designed in 1637 as adefense against raiding pirates. Thestructure we see today was built in 1738­1740. The fortress was declared a WorldHeritage Site by UNESCO in 1997, it is citedas the best preserved and most completeexample of Spanish­American militaryarchitecture.Santiago offers more than the fortresshowever as just about every Cuban musicgenre from salsa to son first emanated fromsomewhere in these streets. If you canendure the touts long enough Santiago's thecity's casco histórico (historical center) iswell worth exploring.Santiago because of location, weather andgeneral aggregation is not the easiestlocation to visit, but if you want to receive abroader sense of the elements thatconstitute both the present and historicalCuba it is indispensable.

This is the side of the Dominica Republicmost visitors don't see. Away from the coastand its beaches', Santiago is the 2nd largestcity in the Dominican Republic. Thewonderful city streets full of shops andrestaurants and various interesting historicalsites.One the best times to come here, is duringthe month of February when Carnival is on.This celebration has all the essentialelements for a great carnival celebration:streets are filled with loud music, colourfulparades, and bizarre Carnival masks.

Santiago (de Cuba), Cuba

alleros), Dominican Republic, Santiago (de Cuba), Cuba

CRD TRAVEL SERVICES | 11

Cimitirul Bellu(Bellu Cemetery)

Founded in the 1850s, this is Bucharest's mosthistoric cemetery, and the final resting placeof just about every great Romanian you canthink of.

Casa Poporului(Parliament Palace)

When we refer to bad urban planningdecisions made by Ceausescu, this is theresult. The 3,100­room 12 story building wasbuilt to house all departments of thecommunist state is today the parliamentbuildings for Bulgaria.

Muzeul National George Enescu(George Enescu Museum)

Some people mistakenly believed this to beGeorge Enescu's former home. It was built forGeorge Cantacuzino in 1905 and in 1956opened as a museum dedicated to the life andwork of George Enescu.

bucureştibucureştiBUCHAREST WAS ONCE KNOWN AS LITTLE PARIS. DUE TO SOME BRUTAL URBAN PLANNINGDECISIONS MADE IN THE RECENT PAST, MEANS TODAY'S VISITORS TODAY HAVE TO WORK HARD TOFIND ITS GEMS.

If you were to ask us what major centrewould be most like the capitals explored bytourists on the grand tour at the turn of theprevious century. We might surprise you bysaying Bucharest.Bucharest is a treasure trove of Art Nouveaubuildings. Many of which are in an unalteredstate. Bulgaria, of which Bucharest is thecapital, is one of the poorest countries inEurope. This has meant their travelinfrastructure is simple as compared to itsneighbours. For example, only recently has atourist office opened in Bucharest.Bucharest has also suffered at the hands ofCeausescu who in failed city planning tore upa large area of the centre of Bucharest

12 | JOURNEYS ­ FALL 2013

MNAR; Muzeul National de Arta(National Art Museum)

Housed in inside thed former Royal Palace.There are two permanent galleries; National Artand European Paintings and Sculpture, a finecollection of Old European Masters.

Muzeul de Istorie Naturală Grigore Antipa(Grigore Antipa Museum of Natural History)

One of the best natural history museums inEurope, which benefited from a three year, €14million refit. Named in honor of a long time curator.

Muzeul Taranului Roman(Peasant Museum)

The museum offers a range of exhibitionsshowing you all you need to know about thediverse and fascinating history of life over thepast four centuries. There are exhibitionscovering all aspects of peasant life, from hand­painted Easter eggs to terracotta pottery.

so the building now known as Casa Populd bebuilt.Most visitors will gravitate toward the oldmedieval merchant district of Lipscani, mainlybecause it escaped the attentions ofCeausescu.The area takes its name from Germanimmigrants from Leipzig, or Lipsca, who firstsettled here in the 1400s. This past is alsoreflected in some of the street names, suchas Covaci, a reference to furriers, and Cavafii,which refers to knife makers.Today the craft­based businesses have givenway to antique stores and cafes, making it afascinating place to browse or people­watch.

CRD TRAVEL SERVICES | 13

Journeys© CRD Travel Services ­ 2013