Ten reasons to move to the Costa Brava

After France, Spain is Europe's most popular holiday destination, and the apparent dominance of France is to a large extent due to visitors in transit elsewhere. In 1996 between 1.2 and 1.3 million European tourists visited Spain. It is therefore not surprising that many of them become interested in buying a home there. Spain's property market generally has enjoyed strong growth, with the Costa Brava enjoying a particularly large rise in values. About 20% of foreign owners are more or less permanent residents of Spain, while the remaining 80% bought their property for either holidays or investment purposes.

The Costa Brava is particularly attractive because

- Summer heat is less intense than further south,

- Scenery is spectacular,

- There are beautiful well-preserved mediaeval towns like Pals and
Peratallada everywhere,

- Catalonia is well run with good roads and railways

- The A7 motorway is never more than a few minutes drive and
connects to the French network

- Barcelona is easily accessible

- Golf courses are numerous and of the highest standard all year
round

- In winter, there is good skiing in the nearby Pyrenees

- There are cheap flights to Girona/Costa Brave airport and to
Barcelona and Perpignan.

- Eating out is inexpensive and a real pleasure

- The cost of living generally is reasonable.

That is an impressive catalogue of benefits. Add that attractive property is still fairly freely available and competitively priced and you will quickly understand the popularity of the region.

Many different nationalities settle here, but unlike further south they are all intermingled, with no "English" estates or "German" estates. The whole atmosphere is much more cosmopolitan. That does not suit everybody.

Before buying anything, do visit the area in and out of season. Resorts that are a buzz in summer often die completely in the winter. To most Catalonians, the Costa Brava is where they go for their summer holidays; they don't live there, and they don't even visit at week-ends out of season. If you are buying just for summer rentals and/or your own summer holidays, that does not matter, but if you are thinking of permanent residence, it is a critical factor. Never assume that you may be able to rent your property in winter. It is most unlikely.

If you are thinking of semi-permanent or even permanent residence, you may be concerned that you will find it hard to make friends here, and therefore be somewhat isolated. This is generally not so. Most residents are retired or semi-retired and it is fairly easy to meet new people, particularly of course if you play golf. Incomers tend to be of a similar age and background, even if from different countries. They too want to make new friends.

This may be an advantage or a disadvantage! You will also suddenly find that you have many friends in England wanting to visit you. Some of them may be friends that you thought of only as acquaintances. It can also be difficult for visitors to understand that you are not there just to entertain them, but have your own life to lead as well.

All in all though, the Costa Brava is a terrific place to holiday or live as long as you have thought through your purchase correctly. Our experience comes as part of the package, and our job is to make sure that you make the right decision for you. This is not the Costa del Sol either in terms of weather or life style, but it is culturally rich, welcoming, and offers a great life to those that respond to what it offers.

_______________

by: Christopher Longmore

Costa Brava Homes www.costa-brava-homes.com & Christopher B. Longmore 2004

Take the Grandchildren to Walt Disney World

What better opportunity to spoil the grandchildren than a trip to “The Most Magical Place on Earth”. And spoil them you can with so many things to see and do that children as well as adults will absolutely love. It’s a vacation guaranteed to create lasting memories. Here are some suggestions that will make this very special trip one to remember for a lifetime:

Book a Resort with a Great Pool

Kids love swimming pools, and Disney resorts come with some of the best. Children’s favorites: the Volcano Pool at Disney’s Polynesian Resort featuring a smoking volcano slide, underwater music, and sparkling waterfall, all with a superb view of the Seven Seas Lagoon; the Wilderness Lodge’s boulder-lined pool featuring glistening waterfalls, rocky overlooks, a fun water slide, and nearby geyser; the eye-popping Stormalong Bay, a mini-water park complex that meanders between the Yacht and Beach Club, offering three acres of winding, watery delight including sandy bottom pools, a giant “shipwreck” waterslide, tidal whirlpool, bubbling hot tubs, a kiddie pool with its own slide next to the beach, and enough length to float lazily in inner tubes to your heart’s delight.

Start Your Day Together at a Character Breakfast

If you’re traveling with young children, at least one or two character meals are a must. These extremely popular dining spots, offered at both the theme parks and the Disney resort hotels, are a perfect way for the grandchildren to spend extra time with their favorite characters. Young ladies don their favorite Disney princess costumes at Restaurant Akershus in Epcot’s Norway pavilion to dine with Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Belle, while both boys and girls alike adore the Fantasyland breakfast offered at the Magic Kingdom’s Cinderella’s Castle. Just be sure to call 407-WDW-DINE exactly 90 days prior at 7 a.m. Eastern time to assure yourselves a spot at these coveted venues.

Head Over to Ft. Wilderness for a Campfire Sing-along

Gather 'round the campfire each evening at Disney’s Ft. Wilderness for a sing-along, marshmallow roast, and a Disney animated movie. It’s complimentary to all Walt Disney World resort guests.

Start Your Day Early at the Magic Kingdom

Each morning one of Disney’s theme parks opens an hour early only for guests staying at a Disney resort. The Magic Kingdom’s early open days are Sunday and Thursday, a perfect opportunity to knock off the children’s attractions in Fantasyland where waits can sometimes be extremely lengthy during normal park hours.

Don’t Miss the Magic Kingdom’s Afternoon Parade and Evening Fireworks Presentation

The wonderful Share a Dream Come True parade is Disney’s best where giant floats topped with rotating globes, twinkling lights, and live Disney characters are accompanied by over a hundred walking characters and a medley of classic Disney songs. And the Jiminy Cricket narrated nighttime fireworks display is probably the most magical experience in all of Disney.

Take a Spin on a WaterMouse Boat

Rent one of these two-seater mini-power boats for zipping around one of Disney’s waterways. The grandkids will love you for it. They’re available at the Contemporary, Polynesian, Grand Floridian, the Yacht and Beach Club, Downtown Disney, and the Wilderness Lodge.

Head to a Water Park for a Splashing Good Time

Disney has two of the most fantastic water parks imaginable, Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon, each offering their own brand of wonder. At Blizzard Beach you’ll find quite a few tame attractions along with wild, rushing water and death-defying slides. Typhoon Lagoon offers a whopper of a surf pool. But both have wonderful children’s areas with smaller versions of the adult attractions. There are even areas for the adolescent set

________________________

Cara Goldsbury is the author of The Luxury Guide to Walt Disney World: How to Get the Most Out of the Best Disney Has to Offer available at 800-247-6553. Visit her at www.luxurydisneyguide.com

Family Cruise: Family Get-Together for Fun

A family cruise is a perfect getaway with loads of fun and excitement for everybody. Whenever you have kids bored with the usual stuff amusement parks, theater and all and your spouse needs a change, plan a cruise. You will get addicted to it. Family cruise is a sure shot way to drive away boredom.

A movie to watch, a relaxing massage, snooker game…anything, you just name it. You have many activities to choose from, actually that is the most difficult part- to decide what to do. Family cruise is one of the healthiest entertaining ways to enjoy your vacation with your family and cherish the memories forever. You will find selective activities and tailor made services for all of you. You just need some planning.

Start planning your family cruises, by defining your budget. Once you know your budget look for cruises that fit into your budget. After short listing, the cruises look for the facilities and services they are offering along with the nature and types of activities suitable for children. You of course want them to enjoy the cruise so there should be sufficient provision to keep them happily occupied. If you have very young children, make sure cribs and babysitting facilities are available. While for a bit older children loads of activities like dancing classes, escorted tours, parties, games and contests are planned. Every cruise has its own bag of goodies for children. Keep your children’s age in mind when you re going through these activities.

Some family cruises do not allow infants or pregnant women onboard. Check at the time of booking whether infant care and baby-sitting facilities are available or not. Keep ample stock of the things your baby might need like baby food, diapers, as you might not find them onboard.

While embarking on a family cruise, make sure there are proper medical facilities are available for emergencies. Also, make enquiries about fees for cancellation or changing dates for the trip, in case any such need arises. It is better to check latest information about the cruise schedule on the cruise’s website. A weeklong cruise is perfect for families and you are sure to find more families joining the fun.

One of the popular family cruises is a Disney cruise. With many special facilities and fun filled activities to occupy young and old alike, Disney cruise is a perfect setting for fun, fun and more fun. You have a club and lab for kids, Flounder’s reef nursery for your babies, a coffeehouse, specially designed programs in filmmaking and photography plus interesting teen outings along with live shows.

Another interesting family cruise is the carnival cruise with its special fun ships. The fun ships have special entertainers, Karaoke parties, teen makeovers and art & photography classes, water slides, ship tours for children etc. There are special camp carnivals for different age groups. There are specially designed virtual reality machines in the entertainment complex along with disco and video arcade. There is a playroom with loads of toys and electronic games.

Family cruises are joyous occasions for the family where they can spend some quality time with one another. Simply put, are great places to unwind and enjoy

____________________________

Colin Hartness
Looking for information about cruises?
Go to: http://www.whatcruises.com
'What Cruises' is published by Colin Hartness -
An excellent resource for Cruises!
Check out more cruise articles at: http://www.whatcruises.com/archive

Australia's Undiscovered Jewel

Bunbury and the South West area of Western Australia (or WA) is one of the world's great places to live, with a Mediterranean climate, sandy-white beaches, beautiful native forests and all the infrastructure expected of a modern western society.

Bunbury is the major city in WA's South West region, that is also home to other centres such as Busselton, Margaret River, Donnybrook, Manjimup, Augusta, Pemberton, Collie, Harvey and Bridgetown.

Located 175km south of Perth, the city and its neighboring suburbs have a population of 52,000 and Bunbury is one of Australia's fastest growing cities. Bunbury is the commercial hub to WA's "South West", an area that is home to the Margaret River wine region and major coal, alumina and mineral sands industries; a region that boasts around 8,000 businesses and a GDP of over $5 billion. Presently it is about a 2 hour drive from Perth to Bunbury, but this will be reduced by 30 minutes on the completion of the recently announced Bunbury Highway or Peel Deviation.

Western Australia is Australia's largest state, comprising about one-third of Australia's land mass and occupying over 2.5 million square kilometres in area. WA is divided into 10 regional areas - the South West, Mid West, North West, Peel, Wheatbelt, Great Southern, Goldfields-Esperance, Pilbara, Gascoyne and Kimberley.

Outside Perth, Bunbury is Western Australia's next largest city. It boasts a thriving CBD shopping and business area that is these days more famous for its many restaurants and cafés, or as it is referred to locally - The Cappuccino Strip, and more recently the fast developing Marlston waterfront area that already includes the upmarket Vat 2 restaurant, Taffy's "live" confectionary outlet, Barbados tavern and nightclub, Jiving J's waterfront bar and eatery and "Surprise Chef" Aristos's own seafood boardwalk.

Many restaurants are open early and close late, with the remainder open in the evenings from around 6pm and for lunch around 12-2pm. There's a bevy of fast-food options both within the city area and in the Bunbury suburbs, and Bunbury is well known for its family-owned pizza stores in the city area.

Enjoying a mild Mediterranean climate, the city is bordered by the Indian Ocean, Koombana Bay and Leschenault inlet and naturally enough water sports, port and harbour facilities as well as a growing seafoods industry, feature highly in the local lifestyle and economy. Bunbury's port is Australia's ninth largest port by volume and by 2020 should be rated within the nation's top five.

Thousands of years ago Bunbury was subject to lava flows which resulted in both the unique basalt rock formations on the city beach as well as the present Marlston Hill and Boulters Heights, where today some of Bunbury's most exclusive residential real estate is located. Bunbury is also home to Australia's southernmost mangroves and the world's last native Tuart forest is just south of Bunbury.

The first recorded mapping of what is now Koombana Bay and the eventual City of Bunbury, was in 1803 by the French explorers Nicolas Baudin and Louis de Freycinet, from their ships the Geographe and Casuarina. In 1831 there was a temporary English military settlement with the first settlers moving to the area named after Lieutenant Henry William St Pierre Bunbury in 1838. A growing port serviced the settlers and the subsequent local industries that developed.

The area is the traditional land of the Noongar Aboriginal people with many Noongar names and travel routes still widely used today. The Noongar (which means "man") people have occupied the south west area of Western Australia for around 38,000 years and their traditional stories tell of the Waagle (or Rainbow Serpent) giving life and sustenance to their people who in return were the caretakers of the land.

Bunbury is truly a water-lifestyle city being bordered by the Indian Ocean, Koombana Bay and Leschenault Inlet and fed by the Collie and Preston Rivers; making watersports such as sailing, water skiing, fishing, wind surfing, diving and snorkelling, boating, rowing, swimming, surfing and jet skiing extremely popular.

Bunbury is a great place to live, and especially so for families. There's plenty to do and there's a wide range of education options, with government and independent pre-primary, primary and secondary schools as well as a TAFE College and a campus of Edith Cowan University.

There are numerous property choices in the Bunbury area ranging from trendy cosmopolitan apartments to traditional suburban family homes and from beach retreats to rural or semi-rural properties.

There is a wide variety of attractions, with Bunbury the home of the Dolphin Discovery Centre where you can learn about and interact with wild dolphins, whilst in 2005 the city hopes to host a round of the Formula Nippon motor racing circuit. There is an indoor skate centre, ten pin bowling, cinema within the CBD area with the Bunbury Entertainment Centre alongside.

Bunbury boasts a major aquatic and fitness centre with a smaller indoor pool located at Australind. You can get a good view of Bunbury and the surrounding areas from the Apex Lookout Tower at Marlston Hill or at Boulters Heights, right alongside the city centre.
Bunbury is home to up to 90 bottlenose dolphins and visitors can wade in Koombana Bay while dolphins swim amongst you or you can take one of the Dolphin Discovery Centre's "Swim with the Dolphins" cruises. Bunbury is one of the few places where wild dolphins freely visit the beach and interract with humans.

There are 9 secondary schools in the central Bunbury area, a campus of Edith Cowan University, TAFE College, several shopping centres, sporting grounds and major private and public hospitals.

Shops are normally open 8.30am-5.30pm Monday to Friday and 8.30am-5.00pm Saturdays with late night shopping until 9pm on Thursday. The Eaton Fair Shopping Centre in Bunbury's north-eastern suburbs has extended trading hours 7 days a week. Banks only operate 10am - 4pm Monday through Thursday and until 5pm on Fridays, although credit and building societies normally also open on Saturday mornings. There are a host of automatic teller machines and bank agencies dotted in and around Bunbury.

To get around Bunbury there are ample modern taxis, a public bus transport service and more recently a tourist "tram" that will carry you about the city areas and give you an explanation of the local sites as you go. The Bunbury Visitor Centre in Carmody Street near Centrepoint Shopping Centre will also assist with additional maps and local knowledge.

There are a number of Post Offices in the Bunbury area and postage stamps can also be purchased at local newsagencies. Postage for a standard letter, anywhere in Australia, is 50c.
Free to Air TV channels in Bunbury are the ABC, GWN, WIN and SBS but many homes also receive the Perth networks 7, 9 and 10. Foxtel pay TV is also available in Bunbury. The electricity supply in Bunbury, like the rest of Australia, is 240v. While you are travelling you can be updated on Bunbury and the South West region by turning to Western Tourist Radio. In the Bunbury region turn to 98.4 FM.

City and suburban locations in the Bunbury area include Australind, Eaton, Dalyellup, Vittoria Heights, Marlston Hill, Clifton Park, Gelorup, Mangles, Leschenault, Crosslands, Sandridge Park, Glen Padden, South Bunbury, Withers, College Grove, Carey Park, Picton, Davenport and East Bunbury. There is a full listing of Bunbury real estate in the Bunbury Online real estate guide.
The Bunbury region of Western Australia includes the areas of Harvey, Capel, Dardanup, Binningup, Myalup, Burekup, Boyanup, Peppermint Grove Beach, Stratham, Yarloop, Wokalup, Benger, Brunswick, Roelands, Leschenault and the Ferguson Valley.

Bunbury is now also home to a substantial expat community from the USA, Canada, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana, however, the original human inhabitants of the South West area of WA are the Noongar Aboriginal people.

Today, as locals try to make sense of the established Western seasons, it is worthwhile examining the traditional Noongar seasons that divided the south west's climate into 6 rather than 4 separate seasons.

In Noongar Aboriginal culture, Boojar (or land) is of the utmost importance. Each tribal group had their own kaleep or favoured camping locality, which held a special significence to them. The culture has a complex relationship to the land and pays respect to the seasons and the bountiful supply of food.

The Noongar year has six seasons, the first being from December to January. This season is called Birak where hot, easterly winds blow during the day and Noongar people used to burn sections of scrubland to force animals into the open to hunt.

From February to March, during Bunuru, the dry weather conditions meant Noongars moved to estuaries where fish constituted a large proportion of the seasonal diet. During Djeran, in April to May, the weather was becoming cooler with winds from the south west. Fishing continued and bulbs and seeds were collected for food.

During the coldest season, Makuru (june to July), Noongars moved inland to hunt areas once rains had replenished inland water resources. In Djilba, as the weather was becoming warmer from August to September, roots were collected and emus, possums and kangaroo were hunted.
In Kambarang, when rain was decreasing during October to November, families moved towards the coast where frogs, totoises and freshwater crayfish were caught.

You can learn more about Bunbury Western Australia by visiting – http://www.bunburyonline.com part of the WA Online network – "Building information bridges for Western Australian communities".

About The Author

Keith Palmer is founder of the WA Online project whose aim is to build information bridges for Western Australian communities. Website http://www.waonline.com.au Email: keith@skyaustralia.com.au

Atlantis Discovered?

Well we definitely found Atlantis! This is according to Robert Sarmast. But who, exactly is Mr. Robert Sarmast? Mr. Sarmast was an architect who became fascinated with the search for lost civilizations and ancient history. For years he traveled, gathering facts in his pursuit of these ancient cultures. He was extremely interested in Atlantis. He published a book on the subject in 2003 entitled "Discovery of Atlantis" and has come to the conclusion that the island of Cyprus was where Atlantis existed.

There are many theories as to where Atlantis existed. Lately the South Pole or Antarctica has been suggested. In the past so many different places have been chosen that if we were to make a list of them, they would cover many different areas of the Earth. A few years ago ruins were found off the coast of Japan and many suggest that this was the location of Atlantis. The same is true with the Bahamas. The famous Bimini Road is said to be a relic of Atlantis. Another area which is said to be where Atlantis was situated is South America. After all there are many mysterious cities that have been abandoned there that were built in such a way as to defy construction methods. In some of these places the stones are so close together that even a sheet of paper can't fit between them, yet no mortar was used. In other of these cities, huge stone were hauled to the tops of mountains to be used in city construction, a feat that we can't even equal today. There are other places where Atlantis was suspected of existing and some of these are in the middle of the ocean. Some people say that Atlantis sank and that is why we can't find its location. Oh there are so many different stories about Atlantis.

So, why exactly do people believe that they know were Atlantis was,. or in fact, that it even existed? Homer, the famous Greek story teller and author, lived around the 8th century BC. Originally it was believed by modern day people that Homer was a great writer of fiction, but then things began to happen that suggested that maybe his works weren't fiction after all. The City of Troy was unearthed. Homer had written the Iliad, the story of the battle between the Greeks and the city of Troy that lasted ten years. All of a sudden a work that all though was fiction may have been based on fact. People began to look at the Odessy, another of Homer's famous works. If the Iliad were true than could the Odessy be true also? This is important because many think that the Phoenician island of Scheria might have been Atlantis and Homer mentions this island in his work. Plato was another ancient greek as we know. This ancient philosopher lived about 400 BC. There are two books written by Plato that have passages referring to Atlantis. These books are the Timeaus and the Criteas. They seem to indicate that Atlantis was located in the Atlantic Ocean and was the home of an advanced race that went to war against Athens and lost. It was said that Atlantis was located before the Pillars of Hercules. It goes on to say that they, the Atlantans, had defeated many European countries but the Athenians were able to drive them back out of Europe. The story goes on to say that records of this feat were lost due to a great flood that wipe out part of Athens and all of Atlantis. In Criteas Plato gives a very detailed account of Atlantis.

Now we know why people believe that Atlantis did exist. so let get back to Mr. Sarmast. Why Cyprus and not somewhere else? “It’s definitely Atlantis,”Mr Sarmast said, referring to Cyprus. Sarmast states that the clues were there in Plato's descriptions. He said that received data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that fits perfectly. He went on to say that this data was gathered in 1987 when a scientific survey of the Mediterranean was taken. Then to further back up his claim, he stated that he had used sonar to find unnatural formations that were found at the center of the ancient city of Atlantis.

A remote viewer was called in by Psychognosia, an organization who had challenged the finding. The *remote viewer formerly used his talents while in the US military. When he was asked to tell what he saw both now and 10,000 years ago he stated, that going back in time he could see a predominant city with buildings but now it was only ruins that were buried.

Could Cyprus be Atlantis? Why not, I guess it has just as good of a chance as anywhere else. Maybe Mr. Sarmast has hit upon something. I guess only time will tell.

*During the cold war, the US Government conducted experiments using individuals to 'see' targets anywhere in the world from the room they were in. The experiments were said to have meet with some success. This same people were said to be able to look into the past. The Soviet Union also employed these same type of people, they were called Remote Viewers.

Addendum:

Since I finished writing this story Mr. Sarmast has offered new evidence. He states that he has discovered Atlantis and is sure of the fact because he has an enormous body of evidence. He claims that ruins between Cyprus and Syria that are under the ocean fit the exact description that Plato gave. He said the dimensions and configuration of walls and a canal on a hillside above a rectangular plain that sit on the seabed match Plato's description perfectly.Experts eagerly await the imaging data that should be forth coming from a expedition there last week by Mr. Samast.

About The Author

Ken is the webmaster of About Facts Net. This is an interesting free internet magazine. The articles are suitable for family viewing and often contain photos, video and audio. Http://aboutfacts.net Email: ken@aboutfacts.net

Ten Tips for Planning Your Vacation

I hope that by sharing my personal experiences, you will avoid learning similar lessons the hard way. And it goes to show that those little details in the planning of a vacation can make a huge difference in the outcome. You can make your next vacation relaxing and enjoyable by following these simple vacation planning tips.

1. Keep your vacation planning information in one place. Create a labeled file folder ("Hawaii Vacation") and use it to keep your airline, hotel, car rental information, as well as maps or AAA guide books, tourist information, contact information for people you know in that city, etc. You can find all this information at Holidays, Vacations and Traveling.

2. Plan ahead for your wardrobe. Think about all of the activities you might do, and imagine what you'd want to wear for each activity. For example, on the beach you might want a swimsuit, cover-up, slip-on footwear or water shoes, a sun hat, sunglasses... maybe even a face mask, snorkel, and some flippers. Will the kids want shovels and buckets to build a sand castle? Do you need to supply your own beach towel, or will you be staying somewhere that supplies this for you? What about waterproof sunscreen? The more you can visualize yourself on the beach, the better prepared you will be.

3. Use a travel checklist. I've created a Packing List to get you started. Once you've tailored this to your needs, keep it in the travel file you've created. This will help you remember to pack both the basic necessities, as well as some of the more obscure things you might not remember but would want to take with you.

4. Let children pack their own travel bags, and make sure their bag is small enough that they can carry it themselves. Help them select things they can do on the road or in the air: Walkman and cassettes or CDs, books, handheld video games, portable crafts, card games. Talk about seating arrangements ahead of time to avoid conflict among siblings about who will sit where.

5. Pack a carry-on that is small enough to stay with you at all times. Include necessities that you must have, in the event that you get separated from your other luggage for a day. If you need to take medication on a regular basis, be sure this is with you, and not in your checked luggage. If you are combining a business and vacation trip and need something for a presentation the next day, take it in your carry-on rather than checking it.

6. Plan early to get the best selection and to get early booking discounts. If you're really adventuresome and are not particular about where you want to go, you can also book reservations last-minute. There is some risk involved in doing this, but you can also get some great deals this way. Find some great bargains at airline tickets.

7. If you're driving, you may wish to map out your trip ahead of time and make hotel reservations along the way if you are traveling during peak vacation time. Mapquest offers a helpful Website for mapping out your route and estimating travel time under normal driving conditions.

8. If you're traveling to another country, check out the Currency Converter for International Exchange Rates. If you'd like to master a few useful phrases in a foreign language, visit the Foreign Language Assistance Website. It even contains some sound clips so you can pronounce words properly.

9. If your vacation plans include staying home rather than traveling, plan how you will spend your vacation to rejuvenate yourself. Perhaps there are some local attractions that you've been wanting to experience but have not had the time to experience. Are there people you want to connect with? Get clear about what you want to do and who you want to do it with, and then plan to make it happen. If your vacation includes having a friend or relative flying in to visit you, you can check the status of a flight to see if they will arrive on time.

10. This is the most important tip of all: pack the right attitude. Let go of the "what if" and enjoy the moment. Remind yourself what matters most, and focus on that. If this is a vacation to get away and relax, then focus on activities and thoughts that will be relaxing. If your goal is to reconnect with family and build memories together, that can be done regardless of circumstances (missing a flight, not getting tickets to an event you wanted to attend, etc.). If your goal is to sight-see and take in some special attractions or shows, then plan ahead and make the reservations necessary to ensure that you can do what you want to do when you get there.

About The Author

Kathy Paauw, President of Paauwerfully Organized, specializes in helping busy executives, professionals, and entrepreneurs declutter their schedules, spaces and minds. She is a certified business/personal coach and professional organizer. Contact her at orgcoach@gte.net or visit her Website at http://www.orgcoach.net/ and learn how you can Find ANYTHING in 5 Seconds - Guaranteed.

Important Chinese Festivals

Chinese New Year/Lunar New Year (January/February)

It is usually in the winter of a year. The exact date would follow the one in Lunar Calendar. Entering the New Year month, every family would clean and tidy both the inside and the outside of their houses. New Year food would also be prepared. 'Lin Gao', the Chinese cake symbolizing the rise of family every year, would be a must. New Year couplets would be displayed around house. All families would be busy until the New Year's Eve and a big New Year eve's dinner would be served for the gathering to welcome the beginning of a New Year. Children and unmarried adults would love the occasion because red packets would be given to them from all married couples and older generations. As a tradition, on the first few days of the first lunar month, people would spend their time visiting relatives and friends.

Spring Lantern Festival/ Yuen Siu Festival (January/February)

It is also known as the Chinese Valentine's Day and it marks the end of the Chinese New Year. Young couples would celebrate on this day. Lanterns of different designs would be hung in different places.

Ching Ming Festival (March/April)

It is a day when people pay their visits to the graves of your ancestors. Joss sticks, incense and paper offerings would be burnt for the dead people. Roasted while piglets, steamed chicken, fruit and wine would be offered to the dead too. Some people tend to bring chrysanthemum instead of those mentioned above, so remember not to give chrysanthemum to Chinese people. It is said the it is also a day when the dead wander about above ground and so sometimes people carry willow branches or hang them outside their doors on this day to scare away the ghosts.

Birthday of Tin Hau (April/May)

It is not a very big festival but a very important one for the people living on fishing islands. It is a festival to show respect to the Goddess of the Sea, Tin Hau for good catches in the sea and a safe year ahead.

Cheung Chau Bun Festival (April/May)

It is a festival which belongs to the Cheung Chau Island. In the past, people climbed bun towers built with bamboos which were covered with blessed buns outside. The higher people climbed on it meant the more luck they would receive in the year. Since the accident happened in 1978, this competition was no longer allowed. People on the island would keep vegetarian for three days during the festival.

Dragon Boat Festival (June)

It is a festival to show respect to a patriotic scholar - Chu Yuan, who drowned himself to protest against his emperor. Rice dumpling, which is popular during the festival, is made of glutinous rice, salted meat with a salty egg yolk and wrapped with bamboo leaves. It is believed that these dumplings would scare away any fish which would harm the body of Chu Yuan after him jumping into the sea. However, some believe that dragon boat festival started before the death of Chu Yuan. The dragon boat has the head and a tail of a dragon. Since the dragon is the god of the water world, After the dragon boats sail in the water, the water will be blessed. It is also a tradition for people to wash their hair and body with the blessed water on the day so as to be blessed for the coming year.

Hungry Ghost Festival (August/September)

It is the time when the gate of Hell opens and all ghosts will come to the earth. People would offer roasted pork, steamed chicken, and fruits to the ghosts. They would also burn paper offerings to the dead in the streets. It is also said that people should not walk or respond to anybody calling them when walking in the street at night.

Mid-autumn Festival (September/October)

Mooncake is the gift you give to your friends and relatives at the festival. Apart from that, salted sausages and star fruit are other popular gifts. It is the happiest for the children because they would enjoy walking in the streets with their lanterns. 'Wax-boiling' has become very popular but the government in Hong Kong has made it forbidden after many accidents from burning wax. Of course people would make use of the chance to look at the full moon on the day on their balconies or just at home. Traditional mooncakes are made with sweet lotus seed paste with one or more egg yolks. Modern mooncakes come in various styles. Tastes like green tea, red beans, hams and nuts, or even mooncake ice-cream are all available. Just name it and you may find it.

Chung Yeung Festival (September/October)

There has been a legend from the East Han Dynasty. A man was told to leave home and go to a hill top of the date to avoid a disaster which would kill all lives there. So he left home with his family and drank chrysanthemum wine as he had been told. When he came back after the day, he found that all livestock were killed. Since then, after almost 2000 years, it is believed that it is a day when people should leave home and show their respect to their ancestors on the day.

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