Assisi: The Patron Saint of TV

Assisi: The Patron Saint of TV

By: Globus

Saint Francis may be Assisi’s most internationally famous son, the charismatic preacher who has been the subject of numerous bio-pics. But his female counterpart, Saint Clare, evokes almost as much devotion amongst Italians. Her life story reads like a medieval inversion of The Sound of Music: 

A beautiful young woman born into a wealthy family, she was betrothed at an early age to a dashing local noble and seemed destined for a conventional life of luxury and pleasure. But her future was transformed in 1210, when she saw the handsome young Francis, espousing the sacred virtues of poverty in the streets of Assisi. Clare immediately cut off her long golden hair, took a vow of celibacy, gave away all her fine clothes and began to dress in a simple cassock. She soon founded her own religious order for women, the Poor Sisters of Saint Clare, which demonstrated a devotion to good works that matches the all-male Franciscan order of monks. 

 In fact, she is often known to Catholics as alter Franciscus, another Francis. Among Clare’s lesser-known honors is that she is the patron saint of television. She was actually given this designation by Pope Pius XII in 1958, on the basis of a miracle that occurred at the end of her life: One Christmas Eve, Clare had been too ill to attend Mass, but the entire religious service was transmitted to her miraculously in a vision. 

 The Pope also designated Clare the patron saint of all telecommunications, including the telephone, an invention dear to the hearts of cellphone-obsessed Italians. Today, Claire’s body can actually be visited in the lovely crypt of the Basilica di Santa Chiara. It’s a romantic setting: She is clothed in an immaculate habit, holding a bouquet of fresh flowers and seems to be peacefully dreaming beneath a ceiling that is painted as a starry sky. No cellphones or televisions are on display. The world is a library. What story might you discover on a Globus vacation in Italy with The Little Travel Consultant?

Recognizing an Inconvenient Truth

Recognizing an Inconvenient Truth

By: Globus

The Galapagos ranks as one of the most important sites in the Western Hemisphere in regards to biodiversity and scientific research. As such, the Ecuadorian government is one of the first countries to include environmental legislation in the form of a constitutional amendment. 

The Special Law for the Galapagos is a landmark piece of legislation which has far-reaching and unprecedented language to protect biodiversity and foster a culture of conservation. The law aims to promote conservation of biodiversity and sustainable development of the Providence of Galapagos. 

The legislation recognizes not only the biological framework necessary to protect Galapagos, but also the intellectual and sociological aspects. The principal goal of this piece of legislation is to create a harmonious existence between people and the unique flora and fauna of the Galapagos Islands. 

So enjoy the lush scenery, plants and animals that await you because they are heavily treasured and guarded in these pristine Islands! The world is a library. What story might you discover on a Globus vacation in The Galapagos with The Little Travel Consultant? 

Why Oxford is Called the City of Dreaming Spires?

Why Oxford is Called the City of Dreaming Spires?

By: Globus
Oxford has long-served as an inspiring landscape to writers, artists and dreamers. In his poem, “Thyrsis,” written to commemorate his friend, Arthur Hugh Clough, who died in 1861, Matthew Arnold famously captured Oxford in the view from Hinksey Hill with the evocative expression, “that sweet city with her dreaming spires,” describing the elegance of the famous university buildings.

Today, the view from Hinksey Hill is less dreamy, despite the greensward foreground of “Matthew Arnold’s Field,” which was purchased by the Oxford Preservation Trust in 1928. Now, those spires are best appreciated from atop St. Mary’s or Carfax Towers in town. Other literary treats lie in Oxford’s Christ Church College, where Charles Dodgson (a.k.a. Lewis Carroll) was a mathematics tutor from 1855 to 1898. He created his stories Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass to entertain the daughters of Dean Henry Liddell. Much of his inspiration came from Christ Church, including the long-necked “firedogs” that hold the logs in the fireplace (Alice’s neck stretched long), the narrow spiral staircase down which the Dean would disappear after meals (down the rabbit hole) and the mulberry tree outside the library where a cat would perch (the Cheshire Cat).

Today, a stained glass window in the Hall depicts scenes and characters from the stories. And, of course the Hall was used in the Harry Potter movies as the dining hall at Hogwarts. For the less lofty, a stained glass window in Christ Church Cathedral tells the story of St. Frideswide, Oxford’s patron saint, with her deathbed panel bowing to modern convention. The window was made in 1858 – a year after the aptly named Thomas Crapper invented the flush toilet. Thus, a flush toilet sits clearly in the background of the final dramatic panel of this famous stained window.

Destinations aren’t just places on a map. They’re the backdrop for some of the most fascinating stories in history. What story might you discover next with Globus and The Little Travel Consultant?

3 Big Benefits to Booking a Condo with a Travel Agent

3 Big Benefits to Booking a Condo with a Travel Agent

By: Outrigger Condominium Collection
Recently we've all been hearing a lot of our clients telling us that they are booking a condo directly with an owner, rather than with a travel agent, because it costs less.
Before you make that decision, let us explain the benefits of booking through a travel agent and a reputable management company, like Outrigger Hospitality. Here are three great reasons to book with a travel agent.

1. You will be able to check-in and check-out at the front desk of the property vs. having to go to another off-property location, like a realty office, to pick up the key.
2. You will enjoy regularly scheduled housekeeping services.
   • With owner-direct bookings, the unit may only be cleaned only after the guest leaves.
   • If you need or want certain types of housekeeping or maintenance services during their stay, and if they booked direct with the owner, they may have to arrange for these services themselves, via the owner or the owner's representative. If you book through the agent, we'll take care of this for you.
3. You will have overall peace of mind knowing that you have an experienced travel agent behind you if you need assistance to make your vacation experience match your expectations.

It's your vacation and your time to relax. Let us book your condo for you. Give The Little Travel Consultant a call to book your next Outrigger getaway to any of the Hawaiian Islands.

Best of Italy

Best of Italy

By: Francis Touschek and Insight Vacations
1500 miles of undiluted history of art, architecture and above all, human endeavour. A cross section of 3000 years of history, beautifully displayed, tangibly visible and also “exhausting”.

Every moment of this tour is a constant reminder of human ingenuity and fallibility. An exhaustive trip to the roots of western civilisation. A trip of a lifetime.

From the primordial and indigenous tribes of the Italian Peninsula, to the nomadic tribes of Asia Minor, the exciting Greek influence, the glories of the Roman empire, the gloom of the dark ages and the Barbaric hords, the Arab and Norman invasions, the sophistication of the Swabe dynasty, the apotheosis of the Italian Renaissance, the gradual decline, the Spanish and French invasions and finally the utopic dream come true, the unity of Italy in 1861.

Italy is not only a beautiful and fascinating country, it is also a beautiful way of life. Every facet of this country is to be experienced, understood and frequently pardoned. It is sometimes confusing and yet proud, chaotic and efficient at the same time, a world-leading industrial and financial reality and yet politically a banana republic. A country of extreme contradictions. A country of sailors and poets, a country of frustrations and indifference.

Every moment of the “Best of Italy” is aimed to share with you a whirlwind experience of a country worthy of many repeat visits, a taste of (always) better things to come, never a dull moment. You leave with a lingering feeling of enrichment and an extraordinary feeling of humility. You will leave with a sense of achievement.

For all the above reasons and many more, you have to experience the truly Best of Italy.

Contact The Little Travel Consultant and get ready for the Best of Italy.

The Lake District, England

I was fortunate to be able to return to the Lake District in May and find it to be one of the most beautiful areas of the England.  The Lake District is a National Park in the northwest of England, and is a popular holiday destination.    It is known for it’s lakes, rugged mountains and historic literacy associations.

All the land in England higher than 3,000 feet (910 m) above sea level lies within the National Park.  The highest mountain in England and the deepest and longest bodies of water in England.

The precise extent of the Lake District was not defined traditionally, but is slightly larger than that of the National Park, the total area of which is about 885 square miles (2,292 km2). The park extends just over 32 miles (51 km) from east to west and nearly 40 miles (64 km) from north to south, with areas such as the Lake District Peninsulas to the south lying outside the National Park.

It is the most visited national park in the United Kingdom with 15.8 million annual visitors and more than 23 million annual day visits, the largest of the thirteen national parks in England and Wales.

There are many paths over which the public has a right of way, all of which are signposted. Within the area of the National Park in 2012 there were 2,159 kilometres (1,342 mi) of public footpaths, 875 kilometres (544 mi) of public bridleways.

Many of these tracks arose centuries ago and were used either as ridge highways or as passes for travelling across the ridges between settlements in the valleys. Historically these paths were not planned for reaching summits, but more recently they are used by fell walkers for that purpose.

The Lake District is intimately associated with English literature of the 18th and 19th centuries. Thomas Gray was the first to bring the region to attention, when he wrote a journal of his Grand Tour in 1769, but it was William Wordsworth whose poems were most famous and influential. Wordsworth's poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud", inspired by the sight of daffodils on the shores of Ullswater, remains one of the most famous in the English language. Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey became known as the Lake Poets.

During the early 20th century, the children's author Beatrix Potter was in residence at Hill Top Farm, setting many of her famous Peter Rabbit books in the Lake District.

http://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/

America's First Eco Lodge

    

 

Even if you can’t stay overnight, be sure to visit the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone, perhaps the most beloved of all National Park historic accommodations: its soaring, 92-foot lobby, erected in 1904, is a marvelous thatch-work of gnarled and knotted tree trunks, evoking the sensation of being inside the primeval forest of Yellowstone.

 

Its architect Robert C. Reamer wanted to capture the wild, unruly essence of nature, arguing that the Inn should look as if it actually grew on the spot. (“I built it in keeping with the place where it stands,” Reamer wrote. “To try to improve upon it would be an impertinence.”)

 

Today, the Inn’s older rooms still have their original raw pinewood walls, marble sinks and claw-foot cast-iron baths; on cooler nights, the wind can sometimes whistle through old logs that make up the exterior walls. In 1959, an earthquake caused some structural damage, and its famous gabled roof is now sadly off-limits to the public – except for two individuals who are permitted to accompany a staff member raising and lowing the flags every dawn and dusk. (Not surprisingly, the ritual is hugely popular and booked up a year in advance, although it is worth asking at the reservation desk if someone has canceled).

 

Would-be roof-climbers should be aware that it’s not a trip for those leery of heights. Starting from the lobby, one ascends a series of rickety old stairs that seem to be suspended in mid-air as they sway underfoot like trapeze ropes. These pass by the precarious ‘Crow’s Nest’ – a tree-house for adults, where in the early 1900s a small musical ensemble would gather after dinner, to serenade the guests dancing below in formal dress. But for those lucky few visitors who make the climb, the view from the roof across the steaming fumaroles of the Upper Geyser Basin is magical. We design our journeys around the stories they will tell.

 

By Globus;  OnTarget by Nexion