Weekender Alicante South Issue 106

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20 FRIDAY 30TH AUGUST 2019 www.weekender.news Las Vegas is fabulous! African Adventure Cruise Barcelona to Durban 30 nights Incl overnight Seychelles & Mauritius, travel the Garden Route from Port Elizabeth, ending in 2 nights in Cape Town with ight to Madrid Rome Direct ights, Transfers & 5 nights 4* Bed & Breakfast Gran Canaria Playa del Ingles Direct ights, transfers & 7 nights half board IFA Buenaventura Hotel Canary Islands Stay & Cruise Direct ights & transfer 3 nights 4* Hotel with drinks 7 nights full board cruise Incl drinks, tips, ights Vietnam & Thailand Festive Asia Adventure Flight from Alicante 23 nights 4* Hotels Ho Chi Min, Hoi-an, Hue Hanoi, Chiang Mai, Bangkok & Phuket, all internal ights OTHER DATES AVAILABLE by Yvonne Hollywood, Worldwide Horizons For those who have yet to visit this colourful city – what are you waiting for? It’s frequently ranked in the top places to visit in the USA, often combined with a stay in Los Angeles or as part of a tour of the West Coast of the USA. Originally given city status in 1910, the boundaries of this town have grown so much that the original, and famous ‘Welcome to Fabulous Los Angeles’ sign was originally over 4km from the last building, and now is less than 0.5km! Whilst efforts have been made by various top name hotels to entice the family market, by way of holiday theme parks, these endeavours have invariably lacked interest and closed along the way, leaving Vegas most famous for it’s gambling and hotel area, known as The Strip. Consisting of over 4 miles of glittering towers of hotels, casinos, big name concerts and top entertainment shows, even the most committed of travellers would be hard put to get through this lot in a short time! Not to worry, you can take your time and see it all. The hotels in Vegas are quite simply stunning, with 15 of the 25 largest hotels in the world all located in this area. Top end hotels are the Bellagio and the Venetian, which have resulted in many of the older hotels also investing in refurbishment. A win-win if you are a guest at any of these hotels. There are plenty of medium range hotels to stay at also (if your pocket money doesn’t quite reach the prices of the Bellagio, or if you prefer to keep your pennies for the one-armed bandits!). Hotels such as the Flamingo offer plenty for your dollar and still keeping you in the central location. So what to do in Vegas? Well the pretty obvious answer is the Casinos. Its hard to turn around without being in front of yet another way to lose your inheritance. Or not! Some casinos offer free lessons on many of the house games. Most would agree that it’s essential to watch the games in play too, to get a feel for how they operate. And if you do win, big or small, remember to save it and walk away! If not, for sure you will lose it all again and probably more too… Don’t forget that there are many top performers entertaining in Vegas year round. Cher, Shania Twain, Barry Manilow and Santana, and that’s just in one month this year! There’s year round entertainment from the industry’s top performers as well as captivating magic shows from Penn and Teller, or amazing choreographics from the Cirque de Soleil. Many of the shows sell out, so it’s a good idea to check for tickets before booking your flights. If you want to escape from the flashing lights and beeping noises of the machines for a while, there are plenty of alternative forms of entertainment available. You could also visit the Grand Canyon, many hotels can book this excursion for you, whether your preferred mode is by bus or by helicopter. Another not to be missed experience is a visit to the Hoover Dam, usually around 3 hours for a guided excursion of this awesome structure, and perhaps with a detour to a chocolate factory or botanic gardens on the return journey. You can connect with nature by visiting the Lion Habitat Ranch, a short distance from the city. And if it’s your birthday, they’ll even let you in for free!
Facebook: @TheWeekenderSpain FRIDAY 30TH AUGUST 2019 21 RIVER RIDE TO THE FRENCH RIVIERA GLIDING along the river with a cocktail in hand, as stars twinkle above me, I’m certain there is no better way to travel. Exploring a new destination each day of a holiday usually means living out of a suitcase and spending hours on the road every night. But memories of cramped coaches slip far into the distance thanks to Avalon Poetry II, the cruise ship which is smoothly transporting my partner Hayley and me to many of the highlights of the Provence region in the South of France. The popularity of European river cruising has rocketed in recent years, and our dusk arrival into Avignon makes it easy to appreciate why. Our visit coincides with the city’s annual arts festival and our immersion in the event begins even before we dock, thanks to musical performances taking place alongside the river. We come to a stop right next to a fairground, so I finish my pina colada and in just a couple of minutes, Hayley and I are hundreds of feet in the air on a Ferris wheel, struggling to believe how much fun we’re having as we look down at the busy streets below. Arrivals like this aren’t possible on big cruise ships. Due to their size, they often dock so far away from city centres that you have to take a taxi or bus to get to where the action is. But river cruising means we can dash off the boat and find ourselves immediately where we want to be. Avalon includes a guided tour for every city and town visited, so the next morning we’re taken to the sumptuous Palace of the Popes. In the 14th century, Avignon was the permanent residence of six successive popes. The prestige and pomp of the role is clear as we walk around the private chapels and apartments of their official residence. Convenience is one of the main advantages to this form of travel. Our hotel room – and all our belongings – sail with us. Croatian waiter Tomislav knows my name, and my favourite drink. The time spent travelling feels genuinely enjoyable rather than a necessary chore to get to the next port. Modern ocean cruise liners are equipped with cinemas, swimming pools and a dozen bars, restaurants and cafes, but being one of thousands of people can be a touch overwhelming. Poetry II carries just 128 passengers, so the chances of us bumping into the same person twice are pretty high. Most of our fellow travellers hail from the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – with a few Brits added to the mix – and by the end of the week, we know many of them well. Bob, an eccentric Kiwi, has a seemingly unlimited supply of tales from a lifetime of travelling the world flying hot air balloons for a living, while Sue and Kyra – a mother and daughter from Vancouver – are full of excitement after “abandoning” their husbands for this once-in-alifetime trip to Europe. Many of the long-haul travellers tell us they opted for a river cruise because they were anxious of making their own way around a foreign country. British holidaymakers probably feel more comfortable negotiating French customs and etiquette because it’s only a short hop across the Channel, but one big advantage of river cruising is it removes a lot of uncertainty over how much the trip will cost. On top of the daily excursions, the price of the cruise includes three superb meals a day, plus beer and wine with dinner and an unlimited supply of hot drinks and cake. Pretty much the only time we have to dip into our spending money is at the very start of the holiday, when we spent a night in Monte Carlo before boarding the ship. The principality – on the coast of the sparkling Mediterranean Sea and surrounded by France – oozes wealth, from the yachts and supercars to the luxury stores and flashy restaurants. The feeling that we’ve entered a distant world only grows when we step into our hotel, the Fairmont, to see Mo Farah in the lobby inspecting a white Aston Martin DB9. We resist the urge to take a photo and stroll casually past the Olympian, trying to look like this is a perfectly normal holiday experience for us. Monte Carlo is great – especially if you have the bank balance to fully enjoy it – but the comfort of our cruise ship and beauty of Provence is the undoubted highlight of our trip. Avalon Poetry II moves so quietly that when we wake up after the first overnight sailing, I suspiciously pull open our cabin curtains to check we really have travelled to Arles. Nicknamed the ‘Little Rome of Gaul’, the city is packed with heritage from the time of the Roman Empire.
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Weekender Alicante South Issue 106

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