So we left Munich today and are now in Zurich. The castles we saw yesterday were amazing and when I get back from vacation I have pictures to show and some general commentary on tours, the people who take them, and the guides.
After a hectic two weeks leading to Christmas, my brother and I took a Victory Liner bus to Baguio one quiet Sunday morn, the day before Christmas eve. It was a pleasant early morning trip and we dozed off after all the puyat of the Christmas parties.
While its reputation as a gritty industrial town is well-earned, Glasgow is also a fantastically stylish city, home to a diverse mix of music, art, entertainment and culture. All up, Glasgow has got it going on! It is an extremely cool, happening metropolis with a vibrant alternative and contemporary arts scene that is constantly reinventing itself. So on your next trip to Scotland be sure to spend some time in Edinburgh, of course. Yet don’t overlook Glasgow, don’t you dare.
Crossing over the river of traffic flowing around the centre of town takes you into the heart of Glasgow. The CCA Centre for Contemporary Arts offers a cutting edge program of visual arts exhibitions, contemporary music and film, including a tango night, special multimedia events, and a great children’s activity program. The bar/café is one of the few decent place for coffee that I found along Sauchiehall St, and will caffeinate you for the first stage of your explorations.
The Tron Theatre in the fascinating Merchant City area offers an unusual night out, with up and coming directors, international festivals and a highly innovative programming policy. The bohemian atmosphere continues in the wonderful Bar Gandolfi (64 Albion St) just around the corner and up the stairs, renowned for serving champagne with mince and tatties…
The People’s Palace is one of the most unusual museums, highlighting the worker’s solidarity movement and socialist past of this highly industrial city. One of the only places in the Western world to actively support of the Communist states, there have been political protests on the cities bridges, and one of the statues along the river (next to the miniature ‘Golden Gate’) is of a woman with arms upraised, proclaiming “It’s better to die on your feet than live on your knees.â€
The government officially launched Visit Indonesia Year 2008 on Wednesday, with the main aim of luring up to 7 million foreign tourists and booking US$6.4 billion in foreign exchange income.
To help reach the target, the government is setting aside $15 million for a domestic and international advertising blitz.
“The budget will be used to finance the promotion campaign, especially abroad,” Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik told a media conference before the grand launch of the program, which will be the second for the country.
The government held its first Visit Indonesia program in 1991, which was not particularly successful, increasing the number of foreign tourists by merely 400,000 from the year earlier, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).
