India is a vast and ancient country with a strong cultural heritage that is predominantly based on Hinduism, one of the world’s oldest religions. The cities are also rich in historic significance and much of the performance theories and stylistic techniques are also based on religious themes. This is exactly the reason Mark eagerly wanted to visit it and had been trying to talk his girlfriend Cyndi, who in that amount of time became his fiancée, into going with him.

Mark had been an ancient religious studies major and he now works as the director of library services and also as a consultant for the local museums’ Indian history department. He had actually been wanting to visit India for as long as he could remember and is complete fascination with its culture almost had him believing he may have lived a past life there. Lately though, he simply could not put off or ignore this desire anymore and constantly requested that Cyndi, who really wanted to visit Paris, travel to Delhi with him. She finally agreed to go based on the promise that she could choose the hotel Delhi India in which they would stay and also all of the restaurants and cafes they would eat in. Cyndi loved Indian food, particularly curries, and this was incredibly important to her.

Meanwhile, Mark was more interested in visiting some of the more famous and historic temples and forts. He readily agreed to Cyndi’s request and actually considered this to be a relief because they were both topics that he had little interest or concern with. However he was greatly interested in visiting landmarks such as the Lotus Temple and the Laxminarayan Temple if only for its tremendous spectacle and incredible beauty. He was also insistent on visiting some of the ancient forts such as the Red Fort, which dates from 1639.

My wife’s 30 year high school class reunion is coming up in Columbus, OH. She wants to go so we will be on our way to Columbus, Ohio this spring. I have been debating taking the time and driving it or just taking a flight and making a fast trip of it. We have been debating the pros of taking the time and driving across the country and the cons of taking that amount of vacation time that early in the year. I would really like to drive across the country, never having done so I think it would be a really cool thing to do. My wife and her voice of reason keeps pointing out how long it will take to get from California to Ohio and then back to California again and that would be a lot of vacation time to eat up all at one time that early in the year. She thinks we will be sorry as we go through the year without very much more time to take off.  I keep coming back to driving across the country getting to see the scenery and the changes in the landscape as we go. So we continue to debate it.

At least we agree that while there we are staying at a Columbus luxury hotels, take care of ourselves and enjoy a little of the luxurious life.

Never having been to Columbus, Ohio before I was wondering what there is to do while we are there. After looking in the net it looks like there will be lost to do. Shopping, site seeing, visiting farmers markets and nearby farm lands. Ohio looks to be very beautiful and green and there will be a lot to do with the reunion and other activities available to do. So all in all the final decision to be made here will be are we driving or flying. I still vote fro drive, but I think I am going to loose this one.

Robert and Gus had worked hard all summer to save up and take a trip to Spain together. It was going to be their senior year in college and they decided that the following summer would likely be their last chance to be carefree and let their personalities run free. Their parents had to admit that the effort and work they demonstrated that summer, a whole year before the actual trip was going to take place, showed a tremendous amount of commitment and desire to take the trip so they decided to pitch in and pay for a few nights stay at one of the best Valencia hotels.

Gus and Robert were planning on spending a month in Spain and wanted to visit Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia, with the majority of their time being spent in Valencia. This was agreed on by both of them early in their planning. Some of the major heritage landmarks they knew they wanted to visit included the Cathedral of Valencia as well as the churches Saints John and El Templo. The Saints John church, dedicated to the Baptist and Evangelist has some of the most impressive frescoes found in Spain. El Templo, known as the Temple was originally a church of the Knights Templar.

The Valencia Cathedral dates back to the early 14th century and has been the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of Valencia. It was consecrated by Pere d’Albalat in 1238, the first Bishop of Valencia. It is one of the world’s recognized Holy Chalice holdings, and it is believed by many that the chalice that is protectively housed in one of the cathedrals is actually the true Holy Grail. These aspects of the churches and other cultural elements of Valencia are extremely attractive to Gus and Robert as much for their legendary status as for their beauty and current social importance.

Spain, wow! Where do I start? I mean really! I’ll say this first, that within a couple of hours of arriving is when it hit me that I wished I would have paid more attention during my Spanish classes and actually done my homework lessons. My sister, met me at Madrid airport, but immediately had to head of to meet up with a business prospect after she dropped me off at one of the best luxury hotels Seville, Spain can offer. I wasn’t expecting that, I was hoping to spent time with her and to stay at her home, but she told me that her husband had his entire family over for the week (unexpected) and that her house was full to the brim. My room was paid in full for a whole week!

As some of you know, I need my coffee in order to function properly in the morning, but since I wasn’t proficient in Spanish, I didn’t even want to order a cafe con leche (yes, I at least remember some Spanish), my sister saw my distress and quickly gave me a few standard sayings to aid me while she’s gone from sight. At least at the hotel registration desk, they know English. Whew. I headed down to the cafe across the street and the girl behind the counter, when she didn’t have customers, helped me learn some more phrases in Spanish. But, I think I was learning it with a South African accent.

Okay, back to Spain! Seville! My sister finally had time for me that evening, it was Friday, and she used me as an excuse to get away from her husbands family. We met up with her best friend, Toni and let me just say that all the rumors about Spanish people staying out until the wee hours is true!  We arrived at the feria and I was absolutely amazed. I was so overwhelmed for the first hour. There was so much to see. The Seville feria is like over a century old and all the Spanish people dress up in traditional costumes and they all drink and eat traditional wine and food. This was totally fun. This is where my sisters local knowledge came in handy. All the drinking and eating takes place in private casitas; you have to be invited. Luckily, we were all invited by my sister’s best friend. We ate and drank all night. We walked around only a little bit and I was tired, it was already 2am. But, my sister and her friend weren’t even close to calling it quits for the night. Everyone we met was so nice and very friendly. I really had a very unforgettable night. The highlight was when I got called up to learn the Savilliana. It’s a local traditional dance. I was so drunk, I kept falling down. I was only embarrassed the next day, after I woke up around noon!

So, that’s only my 2nd day in Seville, stay tuned for when my sister will take me to meet her husbands side of the family!